Side Effects
by TPKTheStoicTPK
Summary: A day shared is a day lived, even moreso when the day is shared with those you care about. These are the shared days of Misaki, Kuroko, and Mikoto. These are the side effects to the drug known as love. Sequel to Addiction. KurokoXMisakaXShokuhou, with a good amount of Misaka and Shokuhou friendship.
1. Of Cakes and Compliments

Shirai Kuroko was currently dating Misaka Mikoto, the third ranked level five also known as the Ace of Tokiwadai or The Railgun, **and** Shokuhou Misaki, the fifth ranked level five also known as the Queen of Tokiwadai or Mental Out.

It was a hard claim to believe, and every time Kuroko found herself saying it -which usually ended up being once a night and once a morning to remind herself how amazing the situation was and how lucky she was to be a part of it- she would have to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. And every time when she realized that it was true she would smile as brightly and happily as one could possibly imagine.

The trio had been together for almost a month now, and, while the first couple of weeks or so had been an extremely exhausting transition period, things had mostly settled down. Misaka had moved into the room Kuroko and Shokuhou were sharing and things were slowly, easily sliding into routine.

Each school morning, such as today, the alarm clock on the right side of the bed would go off and rouse the three from sleep. Shokuhou, who was on that side, would groan and fumble for the off switch. But it took her long enough to find it that by the time she turned off the infernal device, the shrill pitch emanating from it shook most of the remnants of sleep from the trio.

Despite the pins and needles that she had every morning from having the two level fives use an arm each as a pillow, Kuroko was the first to sit up. She leaned over to both of her girlfriends and gave them both a 5-second "good morning" kiss.

Every day she would alternate who got the first one so as not to generate any jealousy. This morning it was Onee-sama's turn. As usual, the kiss startled the half-asleep electromaster and was over before Misaka could either reciprocate or, more likely, push Kuroko away embarrassment.

Kuroko then turned to give Shokuhou-senpai an identical kiss. The blond had had a bit of an opportunity to wake up so she was aware enough to return the kiss, frowning when Kuroko pulled away after only five seconds. However Kuroko knew it would be unfair to Onee-sama if she were to give Shokuhou-senpai a longer kiss than she had received. And if the teleporter made it longer for both of them then chances were that Misaka would reject it altogether.

As it was, Misaka already grumbled some protest about the kiss as the trio blearily exchanged verbal "Good morning"'s, stretching and yawning and, in Kuroko's case, massaging feeling back into her numb arms.

Kuroko doubted the little grievances Misaka voiced were truly heartfelt. Her Onee-sama was still adjusting to this lifestyle and was probably absolutely terrified about actually enjoying it. After all, if she liked kissing and hugging then she would be seen as not only a pervert but also a freaky lesbian since they were all girls.

However if Misaka did it because she had to then it was fine. So she always protested, just to reassure... herself mostly, that she didn't enjoy it and thus, wasn't a pervert. That's what Shokuhou-senpai had told Kuroko anyway, and she had a lot more experience with the whole psychology deal.

The telepath in question also tended to grumble in the mornings, but her complaints tended to revolve around how early it was, though Kuroko knew from experience that she would be like this no matter what time she woke up at. Misaki was not a morning person and would be sluggish until after she had gotten some food in her. Kuroko handed her a cookie from the stash near the bed knowing that would get her blood sugar up and tide her over until they had gotten ready and could go down to breakfast.

As the blond nibbled on the cookie, Misaka went to the bathroom to get ready. Unlike Shokuhou, neither Kuroko nor Misaka took very long to get ready, so they went first.

While the electromaster was in the bathroom Shokuhou would cuddle up to Kuroko, taking advantage of the third girl's absence to get in a bit of lovey-dovey time. Kuroko would need to muster every bit of restraint she had every morning to limit their activities to simple cuddling rather than all the far more "fun" activities she knew she could be doing with her blond girlfriend, who was all too tempting in the mornings with her fancy lingerie and sleep tousled hair.

After ten minutes or so Misaka would walk out of the bathroom, wet chestnut hair clinging to the back of her neck in a most attractive manner. Then it would be Kuroko's turn to use the bathroom.

In an ideal world, the three of them would shower together, but after the backlash she had received the last two times she suggested the idea, Kuroko decided to wait another couple weeks before asking again, assuming they would probably change their minds by then.

As she showered she listed off the days events in her head. There was a History test at school today. She hadn't studied as much as she usually did, being simultaneously distracted by Onee-sama joining this relationship and exhausted by all the hard work that having two girlfriends caused. But Kuroko figured that she had done enough studying that, with a bit of review before school, she could probably manage her usual A.

After school was Judgment work. There was no ongoing case and things had been quiet for long enough that she wouldn't be buried in paperwork, so she could invite Onee-sama and Shokuhou-senpai without having to worry about them butting into her work.

Uiharu wouldn't be in either, so she could spend some time with her girlfriends after work without having to try and probably fail to convince Misaka to ditch her flower headed colleague.

She smiled as she considered all the things that the three of them could do. It was a weekend tomorrow after all, so they could stay up late. Kuroko then reminded herself that finals were coming up and that she had Judgment work tomorrow morning and her dreams of late night romps were quickly shattered.

She sighed as she turned off the shower and began drying her hair. It was so hard to be responsible when she had two amazing girlfriends to distract her. But as she tied her hair up in it's usual ribbons and saw her reflection in the mirror she remembered exactly why she tried so hard.

Besides, even without having to stay up late there were so many opportunities to show and receive affection before the day was over. She was grinning at the possibilities as she exited the bathroom.

As usual, Shokuhou-senpai was still in bed, chatting with Onee-sama. Kuroko was happy to see that Shokuhou-senpai was being perfectly civil, not even teasing Onee-sama as she usually did with every other breath. In response, Onee-sama, who appeared to be studying for the Math test she had later that day, was neither ignoring nor yelling at the blond, but talking to her like any other person.

Kuroko nodded as she told the blond that the bathroom was free. The telepath's smile was bright and happy, though still a bit tired, as she walked over to Kuroko to give her a short peck on the cheek. "Thanks sweetie," she said as she entered the bathroom.

Kuroko smiled as well as she sauntered over to her desk, which had been set up next to the other two at the side of the room, and picked up her History textbook. She scooted her chair over closer to Misaka and giving her a kiss on the cheek. The teleporter leaned on her, putting her head on the electro master's shoulder, and starting her own studying. As she began she said, "Do you want to accompany me on my Judgment work after school?"

Misaka sighed, her cheeks still dyed red from the simple kiss, "Finals are coming up in a couple of weeks, I have to study..."

"So diligent... I love that about you. But you're smart enough that you don't have to study as hard as most people." Kuroko told her.

The electromaster blushed deeper at the praise but was as stubborn as usual. "That doesn't mean I shouldn't study at all."

"Then bring your books and study while I'm doing paperwork... but I'd really like you to be there to keep me company during patrols."

Misaka's tone suddenly changed to a bitter one as she said, "Then why not just bring your precious Shokuhou?"

Misaka was an inherently jealous person, which obviously caused quite a few problems in this three way relationship. Luckily Kuroko's devotion and love towards both of her girlfriends was the one thing that was so obvious she had no need to defend it and Misaka rarely felt like a third wheel for very long, especially considering just how hard Kuroko worked to make sure everything was inclusive of both of the level fives to ensure neither of them would ever feel left out.

Because of this Kuroko's response for when Onee-sama got like this wasn't to assure her that she mattered just as much as Shokuhou-senpai did, she let her actions make that much perfectly clear, rather, she had different tactics.

"When it's just Shokuhou-senpai and myself she gets so affectionate and it becomes _so_ much harder to get any work done," she said truthfully, hoping to use the older girl's jealousy to her favor. "Things are so much more calm and enjoyable when it's both of you."

Kuroko knew she had convinced Misaka when the older girl sighed and leaned towards her, cheek resting upon the teleporter's auburn hair, "Fine," misaka replied quietly.

Kuroko nuzzled the other girl's neck. "Thank you," she said before returning to studying. After twenty minutes Kuroko heard the shower turn off, meaning Shokuhou-senpai would be out in a few minutes. Kuroko tapped Misaka on the shoulder to remind her of this and the pair packed up, Kuroko gathering Shokuhou-senpai's things as well. They finished just in time for the third member of the trio to join them.

They then went down for breakfast and roll call. The older girls, at Kuroko's insistence, sat down with an empty seat between them. Kuroko then went to get the pair's breakfast, which were specially made each morning by a maid who particularly admired the level fives and was willing to go out of her way to make them.

The maid fixed Kuroko with a glare as she picked up the meals but Kuroko simply smiled back and thanked her. The teleporter was far too happy with the way things were going to care about the fact that pretty much everyone in the school and dorms now hated her with an even more fiery determination than they had before.

She walked the breakfasts and herself back to the table and handed them to the respective level five. It was fairly easy to remember which was which. Shokuhou-senpai's breakfast had the essentials buried under enough sweets and pastries to open a bakery whereas Onee-sama's was a western style breakfast with a balance of sweet and savory foods.

Kuroko would then get her own breakfast, one of the pre-made ones that was the more standard fare for the students in the Dorms. She preferred a more Japanese style breakfast, with miso soup and rice, to her girlfriends westernized tastes.

The three ate and talked about various things. Kuroko asked Shokuhou-senpai if she wanted to accompany her to Judgment after school and the blond immediately accepted.

Kuroko finished eating quickly and began her daily task of making sure her two girlfriends were looking as beautiful as possible, straightening up Onee-sama's clothes and brushing Shokuhou-senpai's long beautiful hair, which the blond had been too tired to do earlier.

After breakfast and roll call they headed off to school. It had taken Kuroko several days to find her preferred method for walking with her girlfriends. At first she had linked arms with them but the formation was cumbersome and too intimate for Misaka. She had then tried holding hands with the two of them, but that had felt too distant for Kuroko.

So she had come up with a compromise, linking arms with Shokuhou-senpai while holding hands with Misaka.

Misaka would still let go if there were people watching though so Kuroko had spent an entire night pouring over maps and exploring the Gardens of Education in order to plot a course from the dorm to the school that would allow the three of them to avoid people for the maximum amount of time without risking them being late for school.

School itself was not too difficult. Kuroko had long since learned how to deal with a class full of people who hated her guts, so things hadn't become any more difficult despite her increased notoriety.

She would spend every break with one of the two level fives. first, third, and fifth period with Misaka, and second, forth, and sixth period with Shokuhou. Lunch was usually spent with the both of them, but at times Kuroko and Misaka were alone while Shokuhou spent lunch with her faction.

After school, they took another back alley route to Judgment. Kuroko did her paperwork first, giving the two level fives a bit of time to study and do homework, letting them unwind from their long school day.

When Kuroko couldn't bear writing another apology letter or filling out another form she stuffed the rest of the work in her bag and told Konori that she was going off on patrol.

Since Kuroko was technically on the job she did not link arms or hold hands as the trio walked down the streets, but that didn't mean that the time wasn't enjoyable as they discussed all sorts of things, such as how their tests went that day or what they could do when Kuroko was done with work.

They decided to go to a diner for something to eat then head back early so that Misaka could watch the last couple episodes of Akiya Sora she needed to see before the new episode tonight. Kuroko reluctantly agreed, knowing that it was a good way for her two girlfriends to get closer but disappointed that they couldn't do it in a way that would be more fun for her... like sex.

Unfortunately, even Shokuhou-senpai got angry that time she suggested it, so she decided that that she wouldn't ask again until they'd been going out for at least a month.

Instead she finished up the paperwork for Judgment as well as her homework as the others settled into bed for their little terrible-soap-opera marathon.

After a few hours they finally finished watching all the old episodes along with the new one and they all got ready for bed.

"I have work early tomorrow, do you want me to wake you guys up?"

"Nah," Shokuhou yawned as she pulled on a see through blue negligee, "I'd prefer to sleep in."

"I have to agree," Misaka called through the bathroom door as she pulled on her gekota pajamas in private, "it's late so I'd like plenty of sleep before I have to wake up tomorrow."

"Ok," Kuroko said as she pulled on her own transparent purple chemise before climbing into the middle of the bed, joined shortly after by Shokuhou and then Misaka. She gave each of them a kiss goodnight before the trio drifted off to sleep.

* * *

'Soft' was Misaka's first thought as she began waking up the next morning. It was far too soft to be either a pillow or Kuroko, even her sleep addled brain knew that. Even without opening her eyes she knew there was only one thing it could be... that accursed chest of her busty blond room-mate.

If Shokuhou was cuddling up to Misaka instead of Kuroko then it meant that the teleporter must be gone, a hypothesis that was instantly verified by Mikoto's electrical sense. She could not hear the shower or feel the electricity that would signal the bathroom light was on so she knew Kuroko wasn't in the bathroom. Further more, she couldn't feel the humidity that hung in the air for a while after someone had used the shower, meaning Kuroko had been gone for a while.

Misaka then remembered that Kuroko had Judgment work this morning so she wasn't particularly worried about the younger girl's absence though it did cause a slight issue. She was now alone with the other level five who currently had her pressed tightly to her too-big-for-a-middle-schooler chest.

Though Misaka would never admit to thinking it, this situation wasn't necessarily unpleasant. The blond was soft and warm with the pleasant scent of a bakery around her. She didn't snore or toss and turn in the middle of the night, nor did she drool. Shokuhou was definitely not the worst person to sleep with or wake up next to.

But Misaka had no idea what to do. It was weird and difficult enough dealing with her when Kuroko was present to take the pressure off, but whenever the pair were left alone things became so much more awkward.

Up until a few weeks ago this person was her rival, her enemy, and now... she didn't know what Shokuhou was to her now.

The electromaster sighed and tried to escape from the embrace without waking the other girl, but she failed miserably, stirring the telepath almost immediately.

She saw those sparkling eyes open, looking at her briefly before a grin fell upon that face as Shokuhou leant forward.

'Soft' Misaka thought again as the blond's lips pressed against her own for about 3 seconds before she summoned up enough presence of mind to push Shokuhou away from her, backing up as far as she could with a vibrant blush upon her face. "What the hell?!" She yelled angrily.

With the sunlight illuminating her golden hair coupled with an innocent smile upon her face, Shokuhou almost looked like an angel as she gazed at Misaka, "I'm not used to waking up without my 'Good morning' kiss. Kuroko's gone so I thought that you wouldn't mind filling in." The shock laced push and the prospect of teasing her favorite electromaster was enough to wake her up quickly.

"Yeah, well I do!" Misaka frowned deeply at the girl.

The innocent smile shifted to a look of slight hurt that also would not have been out of place adorning the face of a cherub, "Why is that, don't you like me, Misaka-san?" Shokuhou said as she began crawling towards Misaka again, "we're both in this relationship together, it won't be good if we don't get along."

"I'm in this for Kuroko, not you," Misaka sparked angrily.

"She wants us to get along better, and I do too..." she said, still crawling closer.

"I might believe you if you ever stopped teasing me." Misaka retorted stubbornly.

"That's just how I show my love, Misaka-san," Shokuhou said, her voice still the picture of innocence and naivety, despite the devilish look in her eye. Misaka tried back up further but found that she was now up against the wall.

"That's a pretty shitty way to show your love," Misaka said.

"And zapping people is better?" Shokuhou asked, her eyebrow raised. Misaka was about to protest when The Queen sighed, "perhaps you're right." She put a gloved hand on Misaka's lap before putting her head on the electro master's thighs, completely disregarding the warning sparks that danced among her fringe, "I should show you my love in a more normal way... How about you and I go on a date?"

"Why in the world would I want to go on a date with you!" Misaka snarked and was about to push the telepath off of her when suddenly she heard the blond say something that made her stop in her tracks. "What... what did you just say," Misaka asked, wanting to make sure she heard it correctly.

"There's a girl in my faction who likes that little green mascot you adore so much, that Gekota. She told me about a secret event going on at the cafe she works at. Apparently they're giving away a limited edition keychain to a lucky few people who win their raffle," Shokuhou elaborated as her finger traced a circle around one of the dark green frog heads on the electro master's pajamas.

"Are you being serious?" Misaka asked suspiciously, looking down at the blond who was nuzzling her lap.

"Of course I'm serious Misaka-san," she smiled as she looked back up at the other girl, "Kuroko-chan doesn't really approve of your obsession with that frog thing, but I wouldn't mind going there with you."

"Why? What do you want?"

Shokuhou adopted the same innocent smile as before as she rose up to look Misaka in the eyes. She put her hand on the electro master's cheek, and though she was quickly swatted away she didn't falter once as she said, "I want to get along better, that's all. And this is the first step."

Misaka was a little unsure. She didn't trust Shokuhou but, she didn't seem to be lying here and if she was telling the truth and Misaka refused to believe her then she would miss out on a chance to get a Gekota. If she was lying and Misaka believed her then she would just waste a little time that she had no plans to occupy anyway...

"Ok then, but it's not a date," Misaka finally decided.

"Excellent. I'll let you get ready first, make sure you look your best for our date," the blond teased as she backed up enough to let Misaka get off the bed and go to the bathroom.

"NOT A DATE!" Misaka reiterated. Her voice was loud and insistent, a fact which only brought out yet another giggle from the other girl.

After the usual morning routine the pair headed off, Shokuhou leading the way looking far too happy as Misaka trailed along, looking quite gloomy by comparison. She was still suspicious about this whole thing and that ruined any excitement she might have felt about this expedition... that was until they arrived at the cafe and she saw the sign outside the shop advertising the special raffle.

"Each piece of cake bought buys one ticket (with a maximum of five tickets per person) for the raffle. One hundred tickets would be given out in total and twenty limited edition "Patisserie" Gekota keychains will be given out to the lucky winners."

Misaka did the math quickly and determined that if they each got five pieces they were practically guaranteed to win. They might even get two! Misaka grinned in excitement as she entered the cafe and sat down at the nearest table. Shokuhou strolled in and sat across from her at the booth Misaka had chosen.

"See what a little belief will get you, Misaka-san?" She gloated.

Misaka looked a bit chastised, "Sorry for not believing in you." she apologized, an amazing fact in and of itself considering how hard it was for the electro master to admit she was wrong.

"It's ok, I can hardly blame you." Shokuhou admitted as the waitress came to the table and she began ordering. Misaka got five to maximize her chances of winning, and Shokuhou got seven, though only got five tickets for those seven pieces, because she had missed breakfast and loved cake.

As they ate they talked a bit. Shokuhou asked her about Gekota ("What is the significance of the little frog thing anyway") and Misaka was more than happy to regale her with the tale of Gekota as she choked down the five pieces of cake, each one harder to get down than the

previous.

Much like with Kuroko and kung fu movies, Shokuhou found the way Misaka talked and acted as she spoke about the little green mascot far more interesting than anything she was saying.

People really revealed themselves when they discussed things they were passionate about.

Once the explanation and the cakes were finished Misaka gathered up the raffle tickets and went to the counter to see if any were winners. Shokuhou watched as her bright smiled slowly dropped as each one was revealed to be a losing number. By the end Misaka looked even more gloomy than she did on the way here. Even the raffle associate looked sad as she told Misaka that that number wasn't a winner either.

Shokuhou giggled. "Oh, Misaka-san," she called to the electro master, who turned to look at her only to see the five tickets that Shokuhou had received being held out to her.

She walked back over to the table, "But... those are yours..." Misaka said.

"Oh, they're not free..." Shokuhou droned with a grin.

Misaka rolled her eyes, but the lure of Gekota was strong. "What do you want?"

"A compliment. For each ticket you have to say something nice about me."

"What?" Misaka blushed deeply.

"It'll deepen our friendship. If you want I can give you one too," Shokuhou's grin widened as she held the first ticket aloft, "number one: you're adorable when you blush."

Misaka's blush deepened in color as she tried to hide it with a hand. This was humiliating, but still... Gekota... "You have pretty hair."

Shokuhou giggled and hand over a ticket. Misaka went over to the raffle to cash it in, hoping that it would be a winner so she wouldn't have to give any more compliments.

No such luck.

"Number two," Shokuhou began as Misaka came back to the table, "you have a dazzling smile."

Misaka covered her face with both hands as she mumbled something into her palms. "A little louder Misaka-san," the Queen told her.

"You smell nice," Misaka said a bit louder and was handed the second ticket with an even bigger smile from the blond.

Another loser.

"Number three: You're a lot more humble than most people in your situation would be."

"Like you?" Misaka snarked.

"Tsk tsk," Shokuhou tutted, "that isn't a compliment."

The electromaster tugged at the fringe of her hair, "You're really smart."

Another ticket, another loser.

"Number four," Shokuhou said in a sing-song voice, "your lips are soft and sweet."

There were no words that could describe just how deep red Misaka's face was, "you're a bully."

"I'm complimenting, you, how is that bullying?" Shokuhou grinned a grin that stung more than a thousand insults, "and that wasn't a compliment either by the way."

Misaka practically growled at that but calmed down quickly, reminding herself that it was all for Gekota. "You're really... mature," she said with a quick glance at a particular region. It was obvious to both parties that Misaka was not talking about her personality.

Shokuhou grinned as she handed the fourth ticket to the electromaster.

It lost as well.

"Number five," The Queen grinned as she held the final ticket aloft, "you're really dedicated. When it comes to things and people you like you're willing to do anything, no matter how humiliating. Not just Gekota either... for Kuroko-chan as well. I know you'd do anything for her. I hope some day I can be one of those people as well."

Misaka looked up at the other girl curiously, amazed by her words and even more amazed as she handed the electromaster the last raffle ticket. "I've had my fun now. Take it. I hope you win," she said with a smile.

Misaka wordlessly went up and handed the ticket to the girl at the counter who smiled at her, "this feels like a winner," she said comfortingly and consulted the chart.

The girl's face fell as she looked. She glanced back at Misaka and said, "Sorry..."

"It's ok," the chestnut haired girl said as she sighed and went back to the table, picking up her bag and leaving without another word.

She hadn't gotten very far when she heard footsteps behind her and felt the approach of the other level five. "Oh, Misaka-san," she called.

"What?" she asked, about to turn around when she saw something being dangled in front of her face: it was a little Gekota keychain in a patisserie outfit.

"Huh... how…?" Misaka sputtered out in surprise.

Shokuhou smiled as she appeared in front of Misaka, "It turns out the employees were given one each. The person who was doing the raffle gave hers to the girl in my faction so she had two. Of course, being a loyal subject, she decided to give one to her Queen. Of course this childish thing doesn't suit my taste so as much as I'd like to keep it I prefer it go to someone who will appreciate it more."

Misaka reached out her hand only for Shokuhou to yank it out of her reach. "Ah ah ah, this isn't free either."

"What do you want?" Misaka half-begged half-screamed, irritation and desperation obvious in her voice.

"Hmm... I wonder... it's a lot more valuable than a ticket so I can ask for a lot more... a hug, a cuddle, a kiss? Or maybe I can make you do something embarrassing, like kneeling before me and begging. Or perhaps I can just make you call me the Queen for the rest of your life." Shokuhou tapped her chin as she thought of the possibilities. "oh I know," she grinned as she stepped forward and clasped Misaka's hand in her own, pressing the keychain into her palm, "How about a smile?"

"W-what?" Misaka asked, absolutely sure she heard that wrong. She had braced herself for an unreasonable demand and when she had heard her going through all the things she could make Misaka do she was sure that an unreasonable demand was what it would be.

"A smile," the Queen repeated, tugging up the corners of Misaka's mouth to force a smile before letting go, "you look so gloomy. This is a date, you're supposed to be happy."

Misaka looked at the blond as if she had gone insane, then her face broke out into a smile and she laughed. "Thank you, Shokuhou-san...I've figured out that fifth compliment... You're a lot nicer than you let on. You tease and bully people, but when it matters you're a really good person, to Kuroko and to me. I know we fight a lot but... I do consider you a friend, and I would do anything for you..." she said with a genuine smile.

Shokuhou looked surprised for a second, then she smiled back. She gave a hearty giggle and spun around on her heel, bounding forward a few steps. "Oh, that is just perfect," she sang in a voice of barely concealed glee and mischief. Alarms went off in Misaka's head as she saw the blond pull something out of her pocket and her face paled as she heard a click and then her own voice emanating from the blond's hand.

"Thank you, Shokuhou-senpai," Misaka's voice, slightly distorted by the old fashion tape recorder, said, " I've figured out that fifth compliment... You're a lot nicer than you let on. You tease and bully people, but when it matters you're a really good person, to Kuroko and to me... I know we fight a lot but... I do consider you a friend, and I would do anything for you..."

Misaka blushed deep as Shokuhou giggled and took off running, playing all the compliments that she had received from Misaka one after the other. The electromaster was hot on her heels, chasing her all throughout the district.

Author's Note: Well here it is (again), the first chapter in my new Addiction-verse story "Side Effects". I decided to make this first chapter as fluffy and light as possible before the second chapter injects some plot and drama into the story.

Quite a few people asked me for a sequel to Addiction and, while I believe it was fine as a threeshot I also saw that it did have potential to be expanded upon. So I thought and thought about it and decided to create this, "Side Effects". It's kind of a slice of life piece without a real overarching plot though some chapters, like this and the next one, are directly related and others will have many references to previous chapters and events.

This is quite a fun story to write so I'll be doing bits and pieces of it here and there for a while whenever my other story gets a bit too hard to write and I need a break.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and look forward to more.


	2. Of Friends and Family

**Important Note: Addiction and Side Effects take place in a whole separate universe to my other stories, meaning that the backstory for Kuroko is significantly different than it was there. This chapter is setting all of that up so it will have a lot more plot and backstory than most of this story will. For the most part Side Effects is a slice of life that will not be driven by plot.**

* * *

XXX

Drama Warning

XXX

* * *

Shokuhou was still grinning as she walked down the street, despite the electro master having wrestled the tape recorder from her a while ago and destroying the tape.

The pair had left the Garden's of Education and, with nothing better to do, had decided to go visit Kuroko. Along the way they came across another pair in much the same formation as them, with one cheerfully grinning person upfront while the other person gloomily trailed along behind.

"Yoohoo, Saten-san, Uiharu-san," Shokuhou called as she ran up to them, "How are you today? Where are you heading?"

Saten turned and smiled at the blond, "Hey there Shokuhou-san, Misaka-san. We're heading off to Judgment. Uiharu has work today."

"Hmmm?" Shokuhou hummed as she fell into step beside the longer haired girl of the pair. "She looks a bit upset, what did you do?"

"The usual." Saten shrugged. "She'll be over it shortly." Saten glanced backwards, "I'm a bit more interested in what you did to Misaka-san."

Shokuhou quietly filled her in on the events of the past hour or so. At the end of the story Saten could barely hold in her laughter. "You recorded the compliments then?"

"Yeah, it's a bit of pity that she destroyed the tape though." Shokuhou sighed in disappointment.

"Yeah, if only you had managed to hand the tape off to one of your minions before she caught you and switched it out for a blank." Saten winked at the blond conspiratorially.

The blond winked back. "Ten points for cleverness." She said. "If you don't tell then I'll let you hear them later."

"Give me the 'you have pretty hair' one as a ringtone and I'll consider it," Saten grinned.

* * *

After a few more minutes of casual conversation the four arrived at Judgment Headquarters to see a very distressed looking Konori and no Kuroko. The moment they stepped in Konori glanced at them and seemed a bit relieved, "oh good, you guys," she said, her eyes falling on the two level fives, "can you do me a favor. Kuroko is at the HC Hospital, room 760, some sort of emergency. Could you-" By the time two words of the next sentence were out of her mouth though the four had disappeared, slamming the door behind them.

That particular hospital was quite close so the four had no trouble sprinting the entire distance. Misaka easily made it there first, but the others caught up as the electromaster was over-riding the elevator controls to make one come down to the lobby. They crammed into the elevator and rode up, wishing it would go faster. Once it arrived on the floor they immediately began running towards the indicated room.

As they ran down the hall they heard a familiar voice, Kuroko's voice, crying out as if in distress, "Let go of me!"

"Kuroko!" they cried as they burst into room 760 with considerable gusto and urgency.

The sight that greeted them was slightly unusual. At the end of the room stood a massive teenager.

He was around six foot four inches and was as broad as two normal people, with arms and shoulders rippling with muscles. His short brown hair was cut in a buzz, which, combined with his tattoos and numerous piercings, gave him the look of a delinquent. He held Kuroko in the air by one of her pigtails bouncing her up and down like a yo-yo as she struggled.

However, the sudden noise of the door startled the black haired teen, stopping the bouncing for long enough to give Kuroko the opportunity to teleport away, immediately hiding behind Misaka and Shokuhou, in a way that suggested she was somewhat scared of this person, certainly more scared than the four of them had ever seen Kuroko before.

Seeing this, the electromaster needed no more explanation and was about to start shooting lightning at the person who had been hurting her friend when the black haired teen chuckled, "Hiding behind others as always, eh, runt?" He laughed.

It was the next line that stopped the girls in their tracks though, as they heard Kuroko snarl and yell, "Shut up, Onii-san."

For a moment Misaka and the others were sure they had misheard, but before they could question it they heard another voice. "Would you two please stop fighting," said a calm but tired voice from the side.

As the girls turned to look they saw a very small, very frail looking woman laying in bed in the usual hospital garb. The woman looked young, perhaps sixteen years old at the most, but the laugh lines crinkling around her worldly eyes and the flecks of grey visible in her otherwise jet black hair cut in a bob hinted that she was quite a bit older than she looked. The shape of her face and the color of her eyes seemed familiar, but they couldn't quite place it.

The woman in bed smiled brightly at the five girls. That cheery expression that looked far too happy for someone in the hospital seemed so natural upon her face that it was all too easy to imagine that it was her default expression, or even that she had never had any other expression but that warm, compassionate smile in her entire life. "Are these your friends, Kuroko-chan?" She asked in a voice that was as bright and warm as her smile, "How about you introduce us?"

"Oh, ahem," Kuroko cleared her throat, blushing as she stepped out from behind the two level fives, "These are my friends," she began, pointing to each of the four girls in turn as she introduced them, "That's Uiharu, my colleague in Judgment, my friend Saten-san, and my two girlfriends, Misaka-senpai and Shokuhou-senpai."

There was a hush as everyone present digested this new information that they had just received. The first one to speak was the tall delinquent looking teen across the room, who closed the gap between himself and Kuroko in a blur.

He crouched down in order to put himself at eye level with the much shorter girl and looked slightly exasperated as he clasped the teleporter's shoulders. "Runt,'' he began, his voice easily matching the exasperation that adorned his face, "If you have more than one girlfriend, they aren't supposed to know about each other..."

Kuroko frowned and pushed the teen away, "It's not like that, Onii-san. I'm not cheating on them or being unfaithful, I am simply in a biamorous relationship with the two of them."

"Well that's fine then, as long as you aren't betraying the trust of the people you love," the older woman said in a completely understanding, accepting tone.

"I would never do that," Kuroko protested, "I'm not him." She jabbed her thumb at the tall teen beside her.

"One time, and that was an accident, I've told you before." He bristled in defense as Kuroko opened up that old wound.

Ever since they were kids Tora had taught Kuroko about the importance of fidelity and loyalty, and while he was very faithful and loyal to whatever girl he was currently dating, he also rebounded quickly once the relationships had ended, sometimes getting a new girlfriend before the day was out. One time he had had a particularly bad fight with his girlfriend at the time. He had assumed that they had broken up so he had gotten a new girlfriend.

As it turned out though his previous girlfriend hadn't actually broken up with him and they made up the next day, leaving him with two girlfriends. Despite his usual spiel about loyalty he felt that it was more important to preserve the girl's feelings than be honest with them about the cheating, so he kept it from them until one of them broke up with him. This act had disappointed Kuroko more than anything else he had ever done, leading to the current coldness between them.

Kuroko shook her head and turned back to her friends, "Everyone. This is my Aunt, Midoriko, and my older cousin Tora."

Shokuhou was the first to recover from the shock of this particular revelation. She stepped forward and bowed politely, "A pleasure to meet you." She said, still clearly out of breath from the mad sprint here.

"A pleasure to meet you as well," The older woman said, the words sounding completely sincere, "We've heard so much about you all."

"Really? We haven't heard about you at all," Misaka said, recovering from her embarrassment at being introduced as Kuroko's girlfriend just in time to fix the teleporter with a frown, to which Kuroko had enough presence of mind to look guilty at.

"Onee-sama..." she whispered, then a look of realization spread across her face, "why are you guys here anyway?"

"We heard from Konori that you went to the hospital and that it was an emergency so we thought you were hurt." Uiharu explained, sounding far more worried than the level fives.

"Oh, right," Kuroko face-palmed as she realized again what had happened, "the signal dropped before I could tell her that I was just going to check on my Aunt... sorry for worrying you guys."

Tora now wrapped his arm around Kuroko's shoulder, suddenly acting far more jovial than before. "You probably worried that senpai of yours too cousin-dearest. You really should go and apologize. No worries though, Onii-chan would be more than happy to come along and say sorry with you."

For just a second Kuroko looked slightly touched by the offer, then suspicion descended upon her features as she glared at the older man. "For the last time, Konori-senpai is already dating someone." It was a lie, yes, but a necessary one to spare her senpai.

"Damn," Tora said, disappointment clear in his voice as he backed off.

"But I should go and clear things up..." Kuroko stated, looking conflicted.

"Kuroko-chan, I'm fine, really. You don't have to stay and look after me. Go and do what you have to do," The older woman said, her smile as bright as always.

"Are you sure?" the teleporter asked. She wasn't looking for a way out of the inevitable conversation she would need to have with her friends, she really was just very concerned about the health of her aunt.

"I'll take care of her runt, looks like you have a misunderstanding to sort through," Tora told her in a tone that was a mix of amusement and perhaps a hint of gloating.

Kuroko looked at the pair before nodding and turning to leave the room, the other girls following shortly behind her. They waited until they had left the hospital before beginning the inevitable questioning.

* * *

Luckily Saten-san was the one who pounced first, starting the interrogation off on a more light-hearted than accusatory note, "So, you have family here, eh?"

"Yeah," was Kuroko's simple reply.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Misaka asked, wondering why Kuroko hadn't trusted her enough to tell her this earlier.

"Because I didn't want to make you feel bad," Kuroko said, turning to them, "The way that Academy City is so few kids see or even communicate with their family very often. I've seen the way you guys look when you talk about your families. You look so lonely. If I came out and said, 'hey, I have a family I can see anytime' it would have just made you guys feel worse. It would be like going around to a bunch of people in wheelchair and flaunting how well I can walk. I might not be the most sensitive person but even I know that that's not something you do to friends."

All the anger, hurt, and betrayal that the girls felt died in their chests. Shokuhou smiled and stepped forward, putting her hand on the teleporter's shoulder. "While that is considerate of you what kind of friends would we be if we held the fact that you have a family against you. I'm happy that you have family here."

The rest chimed in with a chorus of agreements but Kuroko had reason to not believe them. She could see the same loneliness in their eyes that they usually had when they talked about their families, possibly even worse than usual. Shokuhou-senpai's expression was different from the others. Her gaze held far more bitterness than jealousy.

Unlike the others who had good relationships with their parents despite the distance, Shokuhou-senpai had never gotten along with her family. The last time she had talked to her parents was when she had called them to tell them that she was in a relationship with another girl in order to maybe piss them off a little.

"Is your aunt okay by the way?" Uiharu asked, looking back at the hospital they had just left, "did she get hurt or anything?"

"No... she just has a... delicate constitution and so we get a bit panicky over everything just in case," Kuroko reassured them as she continued walking.

"So what other family do you have here?" Misaka asked.

Kuroko stopped in her tracks and looked off into the distance for a second, "Would you like to meet the others?"

"Can we?" Saten asked, excited at the possibility of sating her curiosity.

"Sure. They don't live in this district but it's only about half an hour trip by train. Let me call Konori-senpai and explain things first."

Kuroko went a short distance away and pulled out her cell phone, hitting redial in order to get in touch with her senpai again. "Moshi moshi," she began when the older girl answered the phone, "I lost reception last time. Sorry."

"It's fine, what was so urgent though?" Her senpai responded, sounding far more calm than Kuroko thought she would.

"Oba-san was in the hospital again, I had to go and check up on her."

"Oh, I understand. Is she alright?" Konori asked. She already knew about Kuroko's family, having met all of them before.

"She's fine, it was a false alarm."

"Oh, that's good. By the way, the others came and I told them where you were. They ran out before I could explain that it wasn't you that was hurt."

"Yeah, they came and met Oba-san and Onii-san."

"Tora-kun was there?" Konori asked, sounding far too interested for Kuroko's taste.

"Yeah, he came with his girlfriend," Kuroko lied.

"Oh," Konori said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Anyway, I was thinking of introducing the others to Hitsuji-san and Nadeshiko-chan, I was wondering if that was ok or if you needed me back there."

"Nah, it's fine, I dragged Aomi back in when Uiharu went running off. We'll be fine. Say hi to Nadeshiko-chan for me," Konori told her.

"I will, thank you," Kuroko answered and hung up before walking back to the others, "come on then, let's head to the train station."

"So who are we going to go see? Your mom and dad?" Uiharu asked curiously.

"No, my uncle and my other cousin. My mom and dad aren't here anymore," Kuroko said as they began walking.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Uiharu quickly said.

Kuroko looked at her oddly before realising what she had just said, "oh no, I don't mean they're dead, they just don't live here. They live with my little brother and older sister in Tokyo." Kuroko face-palmed and sighed. "It's a bit of a long story..."

"We have plenty of time," Shokuhou said. Despite the digging into Kuroko's memories she had done before they had become friends, Shokuhou had never stumbled across anything to do with the teleporter's family. It hadn't mattered at the time. Now that they were girlfriends however she wanted to learn more, and another dig through Kuroko's memories was out of the question so she'd have to hear it verbally.

* * *

Kuroko was silent for a while as she thought about how to begin her story. Finally she rummaged around her bag and pulled out a small square of laminated paper and handed it to them.

They pressed close together to see and were surprised to see a fairly poor quality picture of someone who looked very similar to Kuroko in an elegant kimono holding two black haired infants swaddled in blankets. Behind her stood a tall man in an expensive looking suit, his arm wrapped around the Kuroko-look-alike's shoulders and a big smile on his face.

"Those are Aoko and Ryu Tatsushen, my grandparents. The story starts with them. You see... like Oba-san, Obaa-sama[1] had a delicate constitution. She was often weak and sickly. Ojii-sama wanted to find a cure but medicine back then wasn't very good. Then he heard about this new city which was all about learning and research. He was a wealthy man even when he was young so he decided to invest in this new city."

"That city became Academy City and, due to Ojii-sama's investment, he had bought himself a seat on the very first Board of Directors. Obaa-sama's health slowly improved... for a while at least. It was when she became pregnant with twins, my mother and her sister, that things took a turn for the worse. The pregnancy was bad enough but the birth sapped pretty much all her health away. That is the last photo of her before she died a couple days later."

"Ojii-sama was never quite the same. He did his best to take care of Okaa-san and Oba-san, but between his position on the Board and other things he was never quite the father that he could have been. Because of that, and various other things, Okaa-san was quick to move out of the city and away from Ojii-sama when she had grown up. Oba-san is basically a saint and could never hold a grudge against anyone so she decided to stay, marrying one of the scientists sons who she had grown up with and starting a family here while Okaa-san married a politician in Tokyo and started a family of their own."

"So... you were born in Tokyo?" Saten asked, wondering if she had gotten the story straight so far.

"And if your mother was so eager to move out why would she send you to learn here?" Misaka asked, spotting the flaw in the story.

"Okaa-san and Otou-san still visit the city often, usually three times a year if Otou-san isn't up for re-election[2] like he was this year. It was during one of these visits that Okaa-san gave birth to me." Kuroko said, shifting uncomfortably in her spot on the train, "I was... several months premature. The doctors told my mother it was only because of Academy City's science that I could be delivered properly and be kept alive."

"There was a lot of discussion about what to do. My parents had a house and a life back in Tokyo. My father had just been re-elected and couldn't stay for that long. Eventually it was decided that Oba-san and Oji-san would raise me, so my mother gave me my name and left," she fidgeted a bit more and was surprised when she felt four arms reach around her in a hug as Misaka and Shokuhou embraced her comfortingly.

"It's good it turned out that way," Misaka said, "otherwise we might never have met."

Kuroko smiled and hugged them back. "Yeah... I'm glad too."

After a short while the hug ended and Kuroko began smiling again. Then she reached up and twirled her hair, "Kuroko... it's ironic. I'm the only one of my family who doesn't have black hair. I take after Obaa-sama."

"You really do," Uiharu agreed, "when I saw the picture I thought it was you."

"Yeah, that's another lucky coincidence. It's because I take after her that I can date you guys," Kuroko said to the two level fives at her sides.

Shokuhou raised an eyebrow, "I'm not that shallow, I wouldn't not date you because you had black hair. In fact I think it might be cute."

"That's not quite what I mean," Kuroko shook her head as she corrected herself, "you see, Ojii-sama is still on the Board of Directors. He has a lot of power over the city and the family and he kind of disapproves of me dating you guys. He thinks that being involved with two level fives will make me a political target. Luckily, because my appearance is so close to my grandmother's he's always had a bit of a soft spot for me and I managed to convince him to allow me to date the two of you and even got his help in convincing the dorm to allow all three of us to room together."

"I was wondering why it was ok for us to have three in a single room," Misaka murmured.

"After the problems my Okaa-san and Oba-san had as children of a member of the Board, it was decided that it was best that I didn't flaunt that particular relation. Which was easy enough considering the different last names," Kuroko explained.

"So, tell us a bit more about your other family," Saten urged as the five of them boarded the monorail that would take them to their destination, "Like that brother of yours from the hospital." Uiharu, Misaka-san, and Shokuhou-san were all only children and Saten only had a younger brother, one she hadn't seen for quite a while, so she was curious what it was like to have an older sibling.

"He was kind of scary looking," Uiharu recalled, "Is he some sort of delinquent?"

"You'd think so," Kuroko agreed, "he's actually quite a star in Judgment, though my arrest record is better of course." She boasted. Kuroko worked twice the normal number of hours in one of the most difficult branches in Judgment in order to be able to make that boast.

She had also managed to become a member of Judgment at a younger age and with better scores at the Academy than Tora had. She had to work about 8 times as hard as he ever did to achieve those results, but it was worth it to surpass him.

"Tora dresses like that because he says that girls are attracted to bad boys. Everything with him is about attracting girls. Tora is a womanizing bully," Kuroko huffed, putting her hands over her pigtails protectively, making the girls remember what they had seen back in the hospital, with the older teen dangling Kuroko like a yo-yo by one of her pigtails.

Suddenly Uiharu giggled. Kuroko fixed her with a glare. "What's so funny?" she spat out at the flower headed girl.

"Oh, uh," Uiharu withered slightly under the glare, "it's just... hard to imagine you getting bullied by anyone. I've seen you fight people his size like they were nothing."

"Well those people don't have his power. He's a high tier level four with a weaker version of the ability that the seventh ranked Level 5 has. It gives him super strength, super speed, and a whole bunch of other things that make it hard for me to fight him off. Plus he has experience dealing with me and my ability so I can't get the drop on him like I can most people," Kuroko defended herself.

"Sounds like you had a pretty rough childhood," Misaka admitted.

There was a distant look in Kuroko's eyes as the train's loudspeaker announced they had arrived at the station. Kuroko stood up and walked off, the others following her.

Kuroko walked towards the edge of the elevated monorail platform and looked out over District 8. Memories of the past rushing past her mind's eye like a river over stones.

"No," she finally said, "I've had a good life. There have been moments of pain and sorrow, but everyone has those moments, and I've probably had fewer than most." She began walking down the stairs towards the streets. It was a difficult line to tread; on the one hand she didn't want to be pitied when she knew she had so much to be grateful for, but on the other hand she still didn't want to flaunt her luck and happiness too much in front of people who weren't so lucky as her.

* * *

After another short period of silence Shokuhou read the mood and decided to change the subject, "So is this where your Aunt and Uncle live?"

"Yeah. Ojii-sama wanted her to have a nice house to reflect her status, but Oba-san is a teacher at a school in the northern part of District 7 and she wanted to be close to her job. Since District 7 doesn't have any houses Ojii-sama approved of she decided to live in the southern section of this district. I've spent most of my life here..."

The distant look returned to Kuroko's eye as she pointed in a seemingly random direction. "A couple streets over in that direction is the playground me and Onii-san would always go to. When someone was with us I would go on the monkey bars but when it was just him and me, I would go on the swings and he would push me all the way around the bar."

She pointed again. "Over there is the park where I would go walking with Oba-san every weekend to feed the ducks and birds. Oba-san was so calm and serene that she could get robins and jays to land on her hand and sing to her. I used to try and get one to land on me too, but I was too excitable and would always scare them off. When I finally learned to calm down long enough for the birds to approach me I would always only ever get crows and ravens and things so Onii-san would joke about how I was a witch."

She pointed in yet another direction, "Way over there is the tea house that we would always go to when Ojii-sama would visit. We would always have to dress up and be on our best behavior, but I didn't really mind since it was the only time Ojii-sama ever really smiled and laughed."

The others listened to the stories silently. This was a side of Kuroko none of them had ever seen before. The teleporter never really talked about herself, now they were learning so much about her all at once. Questions they had never thought to even ask were being answered, revealing the auburn haired girl's past like a bright light in a dark room.

And yet this new side was not as big a surprise as they thought it would be, almost like they had always somehow known it was there. Kuroko had always seemed more at home in this city than the others had. She knew the breath, the rhythm, the soul of the city in a way the others never had. Misaka, Saten, Uiharu, and Shokuhou had been here for years, but they would still always be visitors in the city, their true homes lying elsewhere. Kuroko had always seemed at home in Academy City.

"And this," Kuroko said, stopping suddenly and turning on her heel, "Is my home."

The others turned to look, each wondering what they were going to see, each expecting something different. Uiharu, who would forever think of Kuroko as her tomboyish, rough and tumble Judgment colleague, was half expecting Kuroko to have grown up in some sort of dojo, with paper walls and large tatami rooms for practice.

Saten, who knew that Kuroko was rich and had a surprisingly high place on the social ladder, expected a lavish, opulent western style villa with maids and butlers for every little task.

Misaka, who had been Kuroko's room-mate for months, could not imagine the teleporter in any other environment than that of the dorms, so she imagined her house as a mirror image of the Exterior Dormitories.

Shokuhou, who would never see anyone on quite the same level of wealth as herself, imagined it to be just like her own family's house except much smaller and a lot less nice.

They were all quite surprised to see that it was quite a simple building, reminiscent of standard suburban construction, with a basic, two story rectangular shape surrounded by a lush garden full of flowers which itself was surrounded by a small grassy lawn. The house was painted a plain shade of beige with a red tiled roof.

Kuroko looked around then knelt down. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled. The others looked at her oddly before hearing a deep, loud noise coming from the side of the house as a white streak rounded the corner, charging at Kuroko. It closed the distance quickly and half enveloped Kuroko, whose stance was the only thing that kept her upright as the massive creature tackled her and began assaulting her face with its tongue.

"Good boy, Inu. How've you been, did you miss me?" She asked the Great Pyrenees, though the affection it was now showing her was plenty answer enough for that question.

Misaka was instantly enamoured by the adorable animal and quickly joined Kuroko on the ground to pet it with a single excited word escaping from her lips, "Puppy!"

Uiharu had a few more words on her mind, "You named your dog 'Dog'?" She asked incredulously.

* * *

Kuroko was about to defend herself when another voice cut through the garden, "Onee-chan!"

Kuroko's eyes widened as she heard where it was coming from and she teleported as fast as she could a few feet ahead, leaving Inu to fall back onto all fours at the spot where she had just been.

The teleporter appeared just in time for a pink and black blur to plough into her chest from the second floor window like a boulder from a catapult. The impact winded her and knocked her backwards, causing her to fall over onto her back on the ground.

Shokuhou gasped, "Are you ok?" she asked, not as used to seeing Kuroko getting hurt and thus far more concerned than the others who had seen her take much worse than that on a regular basis.

The black mass that was buried into the teleporter's chest looked up, revealing the face of an adorable little girl. Her hair was the same jet black that Tora and Midoriko had, though far longer, tied in a long ponytail with a single pink ribbon.

The hair's length made the curliness of the hair a lot more apparent than her shorter haired relatives. Her eyes were brown with a dash of pink that, while giving enough resemblance to be apparent, hardly matched the pink hue of Kuroko's own eyes. She wore a vivid pink dress that would not look out of place on a princess in a childhood fairy tale.

The little girl smiled and gave a thumbs up to the blond, "Nadeshiko-chan is fine," she said, finishing the sentence with an all too familiar "desu no" in a voice that sounded like an angel who'd had a little too much sugar to eat, "Nadeshiko-chan is tough."

"I'm fine too," Kuroko reassured the blond as she propped herself up again, holding the small child to her chest with one arm as she stood up, "Nadeshiko-chan, how many times have I told you not to jump out of windows. You could get hurt."

"But, nee-chan...Nadeshiko-chan's ability makes her tough," the little girl argued.

"Ability?" Saten asked.

Nadeshiko looked at the level zero and nodded, "Nadeshiko-chan is a level two ESPer."

Her ability allowed her to alter an object's toughness and rigidity, making her flesh as hard as steel or a brick as soft and malleable as pudding.

Saten's eye twitched slightly, "How old are you?" she asked pleasantly.

"Nadeshiko-chan is five years old," the little girl chimed happily.

Saten turned to Uiharu and placed her hands on the other girl's shoulders, her head hanging in shame, "We've been beaten by a five year old Uiharu," she bemoaned.

"Don't feel too bad about it," Kuroko said, practically seeing the massive spears that her little cousin had accidentally stuck through her friend's self esteem, "Nadeshiko-chan, Tora, and myself were have all been in the Power Development Curriculum since birth, remember."

"Yeah," Saten said, looking back up with a slightly forced smile upon her face, "you cheaters got a head-start."

Kuroko cleared her throat, "Anyway...This is my little cousin Nadeshiko-chan and my dog Inu, which I named when I was four and a half so it's not my fault his name is so terrible."

"Nadeshiko-chan likes the name, Nee-chan, it's easy for Nadeshiko-chan to remember," the little girl said from her spot in Kuroko's arms, still being held like a doll to the teleporter's chest.

The auburn haired girl smiled at the support and hugged the small child tighter, "thank you, Nadeshiko-chan. Now then, these are my friends," Kuroko began, gesturing with her head. Nadeshiko turned around in her nee-chan's grasp to take a look at these people that nee-chan had brought with her.

"The one you were just talking to is Saten-san. Next to her is Uiharu-san, who works with me at Judgment. The one who's petting Inu is one of my girlfriends Misaka-senpai, and the one with blond hair is my other girlfriend Shokuhou-senpai."

Nadeshiko looked up at Kuroko with wide eyes, then pouted cutely, "No fair... Nii-chan has a girlfriend, you have two girlfriends, why doesn't Nadeshiko-chan get a girlfriend?"

The other four were slightly surprised by this reaction but Kuroko had expected something like this and handled it in the manner one would be expected to when dealing with a five year old asking for something like that. "Maybe when you're a little older you can get one."

"But Nadeshiko-chan wants one now," she whined, then she turned towards the others, looking at Uiharu, "Flower-chan, you're pretty, will you be Nadeshiko-chan's girlfriend?"

Needless to say Uiharu would never have expected that the first time someone would ask her out it would be the five year old female cousin of her colleague rather than some dashing prince on a white horse.

But while disappointing it was also surprisingly sweet and flattering that this adorable little girl thought she was pretty and wanted to be her girlfriend. So she decided that she might as well play along.

She smiled, "Sure, Nadeshiko-chan, I'd be happy to."

"What?!" Saten cried out in mock hurt from beside her, "I thought you were my wife, Uiharu." The level zero pressed a hand to her forehead dramatically, "Such betrayal!" she covered her eyes with her hands, "Sob sob sob," she said aloud, body shaking in highly exaggerated simulated crying.

"Four points for content, seven points for emotion, and zero points for the awful pantomime," Shokuhou scored the performance from the sidelines, a grin on her face at the entire proceedings. Saten flashed the blond a smile and a thumbs up, proud despite the low score, or perhaps proud because of it.

Uiharu just looked on confused by the performance and a little embarrassed by Saten's declaration in the middle of it, though she knew that the level zero was even less serious about Uiharu being her wife than Nadeshiko-chan was about being her girlfriend.

As if summoned by the thought, Uiharu felt the little girl in question tugging at the hem of her long skirt. She glanced down and saw the girl holding out a flower, a pink rose to be exact, with a big smile on her face. "Nii-chan always gives flowers to his girlfriend, so here you go Flower-chan."

Uiharu knelt down with a smile, taking the flower from the girl carefully, noting its many thorns. She noticed that the thorns around the area that Nadeshiko had been gripping the flower were crushed or snapped off and that Nadeshiko had no blood on her hand.

Furthermore the stem of the flower appeared to have been snapped off, as if it were a rigid piece of ice rather than an organic plant. Was Nadeshiko's power really this developed already?

"Thank you, Nadeshiko-chan," Uiharu said with a smile, "It's beautiful."

Recognition spread across the five year old's face as she recalled what Tora always said in this situation, "Though the flower may be beautiful its beauty pales in comparison to your own."

The slap of Kuroko's face-palm rang throughout the yard as she heard one of her brother's cheesier lines.

Uiharu was shocked at the smoothness of the line's delivery and found herself blushing despite herself. The other three simply burst out laughing. "Your sister's quite the lady killer," Shokuhou teased. The blond considered making a joke about how she might have chosen the wrong sister, but she knew that the teleporter was very sensitive about things like that, even if it was so obviously a joke, so she decided it wasn't quite appropriate.

"Nadeshiko-chan, is Hitsuji-san home?" Kuroko asked, deciding to get back on track with the purpose of this visit.

"Mhm," Nadeshiko nodded, "he was in the study for a while but he should be out now."

"You guys want to come in?" she asked the other four.

"I'm good," Misaka said with a smile, still petting the dog, who sat there panting and wagging his tail and not running away like most other animals always did.

"Is Inu more important to you than meeting my family?" Kuroko huffed.

To Misaka's credit there was only about a two second hesitation before the electromaster sighed and said, "No..." As much as she loved animals and was excited at the prospect of one that actually allowed her to pet it, she knew they weren't here for that. They were here for Kuroko. So she stood up and followed the others inside, leaving the massive white hound in the yard.

* * *

As they went into the house Kuroko called out, "Hitsuji-san, I've come for a visit, and I brought some friends."

"Really?" came the surprised voice from the other room.

A tiny twinge of irritation creased Kuroko's brow for a moment at the shock in her uncle's voice at the idea of her having friends to bring over, but then she realized that there was a good reason for him to be surprised and the anger faded away. "Yes really," she said as she led them into the living room where a middle aged man sat sitting at a low table a cup of tea.

His brown eyes looked cheerily up towards the teleporter from beneath his combed back hair. His hair was black just like the rest of the family they had met, but with far more pronounced grey streaks than his wife had. The man wore comfortable, casual clothes that suggested he had stayed in all day.

"Well it's nice to see you as always Kuroko-chan," he said with a nod as he stood up, "Nadeshiko-chan has missed you very much." He glanced at the others who were peeking out of the doorway. "These must be your friends."

Kuroko nodded and introduced them in the same manner as before. Hitsuji raised an eyebrow at the "two girlfriends" thing, wondering if it was an extension of the competition that had been going on between Kuroko and Tora since they were kids. Something along the lines of, "well if Onii-san can have a girlfriend then I bet I can get 2." But he realized that even if that were accurate it would be rude to bring up. So he simply smiled and told them that it was a pleasure to meet them.

"Would you care to join us for dinner?" He asked them after introductions and other pleasantries had been dealt with.

After realizing how hungry they all were they quickly agreed. "Do you want me to cook, Hitsuji-san?" Kuroko offered. Her uncle was a good enough chef but she wanted a chance to show off her skills to her Onee-sama and Shokuhou-senpai.

The offer got a suspicious look from Misaka that lasted only about half a second before the electromaster decided that not even Kuroko would have such low standards as to put an aphrodisiac in her food at home with her family.

"Sure," Hitsuji said, "Let me show you what we have. I suspect what I was planning won't be enough now that there are five more mouths to feed."

"Nadeshiko-chan will help to," the little girl said, bounding after them as they went to the kitchen.

Alone now in an unfamiliar house the four girls sat down at the small table in awkward silence, unsure what to do or say in this situation.

* * *

That silence lasted about half a minute before Saten shattered it with the excited cry, "ooo, a photo album." An odd sense of dread filled Misaka as she remembered their discovery last time Saten had brought out one of Kuroko's photo albums.

The others turned to see Saten rifling through a bookshelf, pulling out a large album and setting it on the table. On the cover were the words, "Memories With the Kids," and along the side were three tabs. One saying "Tora" the other saying "Kuroko" and the third saying "Nadeshiko". These were enough to ease Misaka's dread that it was a dirty album of her and instead piqued her curiosity, along with the curiosity of the others.

"I bet there are baby pictures in here," Saten grinned as she flipped to the section with the "Kuroko" tab. There were countless photos of a much younger Kuroko, Tora, Inu, and the rest: there were pictures of Kuroko playing happily with Tora, of Kuroko eating ice cream on a warm summer's day, of Kuroko in a yukata watching fireworks, of Kuroko cuddled up with the little puppy that would become the massive Inu, and all sorts of other things. However the girls were somewhat surprised to see they couldn't find a single picture of Kuroko from before she was a late toddler.

"Awww... are the baby pictures in another album?"

"No, they're in that one," a voice suddenly interrupted, "there just aren't any of Kuroko."

The girl's jumped in surprise as Hitsuji walked back into the room and sat down across the table from them, "She tore them apart during one of her angry episodes. She doesn't like to be reminded of her time in the hospital."

"Hospital? Oh, you mean her premature birth?" Misaka recalled.

"And the four subsequent years, yes." Hitsuji nodded.

"Four years? Why was she in the hospital for four years?" Shokuhou wondered.

"She hasn't told you then eh? Well I can't say I'm surprised." Hitsuji sighed, "You should probably know though. You see... the thing that my wife has, the reason she's in the hospital, and the thing her mother had... Kuroko has it as well."

There was a palpable moment of shock among the four, "Kuroko... is sick?" Misaka asked, trying to wrap her head around that idea. Kuroko had described her aunt as suffering from a delicate constitution. The idea of that little ball of energy who practically radiated health and was durable enough to withstand Misaka's harshest punishment being in any way delicate was... it was beyond comprehension.

Another sigh from Hitsuji, "It... would be wrong to call it a sickness. It's more like..." He searched his mind for a method to describe it that they would understand, "It's like a carpenter building a shelf. Most shelves are sturdy enough to last quite a while unless something happens to them, but with people like my wife, her mother, and Kuroko-chan the carpenter got a bit lazy and built the shelf out of weaker materials. It can still hold up just fine, but it will give out sooner than a normal shelf would and it's not quite as good at handling the strain."

"Unfortunately, there was another factor with Kuroko-chan: her premature birth. In addition to the weaker material the carpenter never even finished building the shelf. It took three years and countless medical procedures to get her body to the point where it could even support itself and another year on top of that to get to her body to the point where she could play like a normal child. But even after all of that her life expectancy was... dismal to say the least. Her grandmother managed to live until 29, my wife is 42 and going strong, but the doctors said a couple of years was all we could expect from Kuroko. They doubted she would even live to see her sixth birthday.

He reached forward and turned the book to the beginning of the Kuroko section where there were countless pictures of an adorable toddler Kuroko, her auburn hair in the same shorter braids they had been when Uiharu had first met her, playing around with a puppy version of Inu and a much younger Tora.

"Every second of every day everyone, including Kuroko, knew that death was just around the corner. We tried to keep her happy and comfortable, tried to give her as normal a life as possible because we knew that it would be a short one." Hitsuji-san smiled then. "But Kuroko-chan has always been a fighter." He turned the page to reveal another picture. This one featured Kuroko and Tora engaged in some sort of wrestling (Kuroko was losing of course).

From the look on the pair's faces it was clearly playful, but at the same time there was an odd sort of ferocity there. "Her constant wrestling and running and playing made her body, which was supposed to fall apart, get stronger and stronger. By her sixth birthday, the time the doctors were sure she wouldn't live to see, she was healthier than she had ever been."

He continued turning pages as he talked, each one holding several memories for him but little significance to his narrative. He stopped again when he reached the aforementioned birthday party, with everyone huddled together tight, more happy than you can imagine to not only have a new member of the family in the form of Kuroko's perfectly healthy little brother Uma, but also to still have the little girl herself.

"The doctors weren't too hopeful about this, still very skeptical about her chance for survival, but they were giving her a few more years this time. They thought she would probably be around for her ninth or even tenth birthday.

"That was until a few months later when they discovered her ability," Hitsuji-san sighed again as he flipped through the pages randomly. "Teleportation is a dangerous power. It is itself like a death sentence, with the chance of self-harm and even accidental death far higher than most other abilities. It was even worse given Kuroko-chan's... temperament. Nobody is sure whether or not it's related to her disease or her long stay in the hospital or one of the medical procedures conducted on her or something else entirely, but her emotions would often flare up unexpectedly at times. There were countless flashes of intense anger or wallowing depression sparked by the simplest of things and lasting only a couple minutes but frightening in their intensity."

"Before her ability surfaced we always found ways of dealing with these flashes," he looked down at one picture of Tora demonstrating his preferred method of calming Kuroko down by holding her aloft by both of her pigtails as opposed to one, "but teleportation doesn't just pose a danger to one's self..."

There was a pause as Hitsuji glanced down at the scar that ran up his left arm. It was nasty but he knew that the ones that his son had were far worse. "Suffice it to say that there was an incident that convinced everyone, especially Kuroko, that she needed to learn control. Casual wrestling was replaced by martial arts to learn discipline and focus while still keeping her body strong. Playing around randomly was replaced by calm walks in the park and flower arrangement, to learn refinement and grace while keeping serene and calm."

"Arguably it worked a little too well. While she did allow a bit of that old Kuroko out around us, she was always so distant from everyone else, too focused on keeping control of herself that she never allowed herself any fun or relations with anyone her own age," he smiled at the four of them, "it's been years since she brought any friends over, and given how she lets herself act around you all it seems she really cares about and trusts you all as well."

"If she trusts us," Shokuhou began sombrely, "then why didn't she tell us any of this?"

"She hates being pitied, she hates people worrying about her. As far as she's concerned everyone would be happier if nobody knew or ever found out about the burden she bears," Hitsuji answered, "It's admirable, in a sense, but it's also quite selfish. She might die and it would be worse to anyone who cared about her to be surprised by that sudden and unexpected death than it ever would be to tell them first. That's why I'm telling you."

"Kuroko might die..." Misaka repeated, audibly horrified at the very concept.

Hitsuji allowed himself a little smile as he shook his head, "she might. The doctors say that living until 16 would be highly unlikely and living until 18 would be a miracle, but that girl manages to pull off one miracle after another when it comes to that. She's defied one death date after another and just gets stronger all the time. Kuroko is a fighter, and a more persistent one I have never seen. Her will to live is so strong, and I don't see it being extinguished any time soon. As long as she has the tiniest thread to grab onto she'll keep on climbing." He smiled wider at them, "But I'm sure you know all of that already."

* * *

It was barely half a minute after that that Kuroko and Nadeshiko called out from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready!"

The five stood up and went to the kitchen where a delicious looking feast awaited them. Saten whistled appreciatively, "wow, it looks delicious."

"Nadeshiko-chan helped," the little girl said proudly as she washed her hands in the sink

"And what a great help you were Nadeshiko-chan," Kuroko smiled at the girl before teleporting to a trio of chairs set very close to each other. She sat in the middle one and looked at her two girlfriends expectantly, "There's cake for dessert as well, strawberry shortcake." she said, knowing that it was the level fives' favorite.

"Nadeshiko-chan gets to put the strawberries on," the girl informed them as she ran over to table to take her own seat.

Apparently Kuroko did have high enough standards not to put aphrodisiac in Misaka's food. However the teleporter did not seem to have enough shame to be prevented from lovingly feeding the two level fives by hand, and the level fives were too caught up in their own thoughts to refuse said feeding.

Nadeshiko stared for a while before hopping off of her chair and crawling onto Uiharu's lap. She glanced at Kuroko once more and took a piece of Uiharu's rice in her chopsticks before turning to the flower-headed girl and smiling, "Say ahhh, flower-chan," she mimicked the cooing of her sister with her own girlfriend.

Uiharu blushed at this but opened her mouth and accepted the offered morsel, and the next one, and the next one.

Saten watched on and suddenly felt very left out. She looked down at her own food and frowned, "say ahh Saten-san," she whispered quietly to herself before taking a bite.

"Do you really have to go so soon, Onee-chan?" Nadeshiko asked, disappointed.

"Afraid I do..." Kuroko frowned, as disappointed as the other girl was, "it's dark and curfew is coming up soon, we'll just barely make it back in time as it is."

"Okay..." Nadeshiko nodded. Kuroko stood up and turned to leave. Nadeshiko waved at her, "Bye bye, Onee-chan. Visit again sometime... Ah!" Nadeshiko cried and suddenly ran towards the group of girls standing in front of the gate. She ran up to Uiharu and tugged at her skirt. Uiharu knelt down curious as to what the little girl wanted and Nadeshiko kissed her cheek, "Call Nadeshiko-chan sometime, Flower-chan." She said to Uiharu, using the same words Onii-chan always used at the end of one of his playdates with his girlfriends.

The trip back was quite a bit more lively than the trip their had been. Saten was teasing Uiharu about her new girlfriend, asking her when their wedding was and things like. Shokuhou was teasing Saten about being jealous. Misaka was gushing to Shokuhou about how cute Inu was and how fun it had been playing fetch with him. And Uiharu was trying to deflect Saten's teasing by talking with Misaka about the weather and other such trivialities.

Kuroko was the only silent one. She was looking out the window, thinking about how great today had been. _'I wonder why I was so worried about introducing my friends to my family...' _she thought, _'I guess I had nothing to worry about after all.'_

Kuroko was a person who liked to live in the present. The past was the past and the future, if it came for her at all, was the future. But that didn't mean that she needed to separate them from each other totally. 'Maybe being a bit more honest is what I need to be...'

The teleporter smiled widely as she looked out the window of the train to see District 8 disappearing behind them. She had great friends, great family, and great lovers.

Past, Present, Future...For Kuroko they were all shining brightly right now.

* * *

[1]: I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure the only difference between Aunt and Grandma is that the latter has two "A"'s just like Oji (uncle) is only one "I" away from Ojii (Grandpa). So it might be a bit confusing but just know that Kuroko always uses "sama" when talking about her grandparents and "san" when talking about her aunt and uncle.

[2]: Kuroko's father is a member of the Diet, which is Japan's legislative body sort of like the Senate in America or Parliament in England.

* * *

Author's Note: In most stories which make a mention of Kuroko's family, my other story included, they typically depict them as distant, possibly even neglectful. So in this story I decided to give her a nice happy family. It kind of exploded in complexity the more I thought about it, and in the end I didn't make the situation surrounding her family as happy and painless as I originally intended, but I still think it turned out quite well.


	3. Of Hair and Humor

"My hair's getting a bit long. I think I should probably get it cut soon..." Misaka stated as she blew her bangs out of her eyes.

It was a cold, windy December day; Misaka, Kuroko, Shokuhou, Saten, and Uiharu were all at one of their usual diners just hanging out.

The other four turned their attention towards the electro master and considered her statement.

"Have you ever thought of growing it out Misaka-san?" Asked Saten, imagining the other girl with long flowing hair. "I bet you'd look really cute."

"Maybe, but part of Misaka-san's charm is her tomboyish nature." Shokuhou reasoned, "If you gave her long hair it would clash with her personality."

"Are you saying I'm not girly enough for long hair?" Misaka seethed at the blond and her innocent little smirk.

"I completely disagree." Kuroko said as she wrapped her arms around the electromaster and began groping the girl's modest chest, "Onee-sama may have boyish charm, but she's all woman underneath and long hair would help bring that out."

One charred teleporter later Misaka turned back to Saten and said, "I just prefer having shorter hair, no real reason. It's been like this since I was a kid."

"Speaking of which," Kuroko said, recovering as quickly as ever from her chastisement, "you've had the same hairstyle since we first met Uiharu. Have you ever thought of changing it?"

Uiharu opened her mouth to answer but Saten beat her to it. "Tsk Tsk Tsk." the level zero tutted, "Don't be so silly, Shirai-san. Uiharu doesn't grow hair, she grows flowers. One day her whole head will be a beautiful garden of roses."

The level one puffed up her cheeks and weakly pounded on her friends shoulders with her fists, "That's not it at all Saten-san, don't tease me!" She huffed before turning back to Kuroko, "It's not that I don't want to change my hair, it's just that I can't grow my hair very long for some reason." Uiharu very much wanted to change her hair, wishing to have hair long enough to grow into the elegant hime cut style she so admired on all those high class Ojou-sama's. It was why she had her bangs cut the way she did.

"I know this one," The Queen chimed in happily, "there's a girl in my faction who wants to be a beautician. She says that hair has a growth stage called Anagen that lasts for 2-7 years depending on the person. The length of your anagen period determines how long your hair can be. You probably have quite a short one."

"You mean I can't ever have long hair?" Uiharu asked, her dreams crumbling before her eyes.

"Well you could use hair tonics and things like that, this is Academy City after all, pretty much anything is possible." Misaka said, trying to cheer her friend up.

"It's hardly worth the hassle anyway," Shokuhou sighed, running a hand through her blond hair, "long hair is such a bother. All the treatments and care you need to keep it looking nice, going to salons three times a month..."

"I know what you mean, if I let mine get longer than mid-back it gets difficult to take care of as well," Saten nodded, "shorter than that it's easy enough though, perhaps you should get yours cut as well, Shokuhou-san."

"No," came the simultaneous protest from that side of the table. One voice in particular stood out, not for the strength of it's declaration, but rather from its source. The four turned to look at Misaka, who only now realized she had spoken out, to which she reacted in her normal manner of blushing and taking a sip of her drink, hoping her hardest that she would suddenly discover a second ESPer power that would let her turn invisible.

A pleased smirk descended upon Shokuhou's face as she said, "As you can see, certain people find my hair is to be pretty as is. And looking good is worth a little bit of extra work."

Saten nodded in understanding, "I'll admit, it does look good. Is that really your natural color?"

"Mhm," the blond confirmed gesturing towards her blond eyebrows, "my family has some Scandinavian roots, which is why I have such beautiful pale skin that glows like moonlight and hair that glitters like spun gold." The poetic beauty of the statement was somewhat dulled by the fact that it was a narcissistic ode.

"What about you, Shirai-san?" Uiharu asked, "I remember you had shorter hair when we first met, and in those pictures of you when you were younger as well."

"Ah, well I prefer longer hair but," Kuroko sighed and tilted her head to the side, grabbing one of her pigtails at the end and pulling it up slightly, "shorter hair doesn't hurt as much when it's tugged, so when I was living with Onii-chan spending half my time dangling by one pigtail or the other it was better that it was short. Now that I've moved away I can grow it out to my desired length."

"If your pigtails always caused you so much trouble why do you always wear them?" Saten asked.

"Now that I think about it, it does seem like that style would cause some problems if it can be grabbed onto so easily," Misaka said, "but I've only ever seen you take them off for bed."

"You even wore them to the beach." Uiharu recalled.

"And they do make you look a bit childish," Shokuhou admitted, "perhaps a bit of variety would be better."

"Ignoring the fact that Ojii-sama wouldn't appreciate it if I changed my hair," Kuroko sighed, "the fact is none of you have much variety either." She fixed her gaze at Uiharu, "You wore your flowers to the beach. Frankly, I don't even know why you're bugging me about it, I'm the only one whose hair has actually changed even slightly in the past couple years."

Saten grinned a grin that was all too familiar to the others, "Well then, there's only one thing to do."

…

* * *

"And, done." Saten said, drawing back to see the results of her work.

Kuroko's mid-back length hair was now drawn up into a tight bun on top of her head in a very elegant style that one would normally see on upper class women or when people wanted to dress up for a festival.

In the bun, in place of the traditional ornamental hairpins, were stuck several nails. The same nails that Kuroko kept on the bands on her thighs. This gave the bun a more informal but undeniably Kuroko-like appearance. A spiraling lock of hair dangled in front to add to the elegance of the style.

Kuroko sighed, having accepted the styling (or at least resigned herself to it and stopped struggling) about a third of the way through. She got out a compact from her bag to inspect the design herself as the others at the table did the same.

"Wow... you actually look like an ojou-sama." Uiharu said, startled by the drastic change in her friend's aura given such a simple change in appearance.

"Implying I do not normally look like one?" Kuroko glared at Uiharu as she snapped the compact shut.

"Oh, you certainly look like one. You have the same haughty arrogant air that radiates more elegance than sense that most of the other girls at our school have," Misaka said, "it's just that your personality shatters any illusion of that elegance."

Kuroko's head hit the table hard at the sudden and terrific blow to her pride.

"If it makes you feel better you still have plenty of that haughty arrogance." Shokuhou fake-comforted.

Kuroko's head hit the table a few more times before she miraculous recovered from the blows to her self confidence a couple seconds later.

"Hmm... it's still missing something," Saten said, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Kuroko looked at her reflection once again and figured out what it was. She reached into her bag and drew out a fan with a simple, flowery, and somewhat familiar, design, unfolding it in a single fluid motion and covering her face so that just her eyes could be seen peeking out from over it, "Missing something? A commoner like yourself dares imply that a lady of my status could possibly lack anything?" She scoffed, her speech taking on a highly exaggerated, and again somewhat familiar, tone of wealth and arrogance.

The others were stunned slightly at the sudden change but they quickly burst out laughing. Behind the fan Kuroko frowned, though her eyes twinkled with just a hint of amusement, "Stop laughing this instant you uncouth louts! Don't you know who I am?!"

Finally it clicked for Misaka who stopped laughing just long enough to look at the fan, "Is that Kongou Mitsuko-san's fan[1]? Are you doing an impression of her?"

"Haughty, arrogant, with more elegance than sense." Kuroko repeated the level five's words from earlier, "It described her so perfectly, I thought she'd be a good person to imitate. And yes it is her fan but in my defense she kept hitting me with it. I told her I'd take it if she did it one more time and she still did it again." Kuroko sighed and even the exhale sounded high class with the voice and attitude she had adopted.

After the laughter had died down Shokuhou turned to Saten with a similar grin to the one the level zero had had on before. "Your turn!" the telepath announced as she slid over and began her styling.

…

* * *

"Done," Shokuhou announced, handing a small mirror for the girl to examine herself.

Saten raised her eyebrow as she inspected her new hairstyle. Her hair was done in two long braids, each sticking out to the side with pink ribbons at the start and end of each braid. It was an exceptionally childish look that seemed very out of place on the head of a middle schooler with the second largest bust of the group. "I don't think it really suits me." she said, to which the rest silently agreed.

Then Shokuhou leaned over and whispered something in Saten's ear and the other three saw as the skeptical look on Saten's face turned into one of mischievous glee.

As the telepath drew away to sit back in her own seat, Saten turned to Uiharu. The level zero's eyes went as big and round as possible while her lips curled into a cute, albeit childish, pout as she ballooned her cheeks slightly to give her face a more rounded appearance.

Uiharu immediately felt slightly uncomfortable at the look she was being given. But the deep crimson blush didn't come until she heard Saten's voice, high pitched and sounding every bit as childish as her appearance, say to her, "Flower-chan! Flower-chan! Tell Saten-chan a story Flower-chan!"

The three Tokiwadai girls laughed again. Shokuhou's giggle was unrestrained and highly amused, while the other two at least tried to stifle their laughs at the level zero's surprisingly good impression of Nadeshiko-chan and the odd effect it seemed to be having on Uiharu.

"W-W-W-W-W-Wha-What are you doing Saten-san!" The flower headed girl stammered, trying to back away.

"How about a kiss for your girlfriend, Flower-chan?" Saten continued, slowly advancing on the embarrassed level one, her lips puckered and making kissy sounds.

Uiharu's face was as red as a sunburned tomato as her back hit the end of the booth, trapping her in the path of the ever advancing predator. Suddenly Misaka was sitting behind Saten, putting a hand on the level zero's shoulder, "I think that's enough Saten-san." She said, still sounding as if she was trying to hold in laughter.

"Aww..." the level zero pouted , "I thought that the lolicon was just starting to enjoy it."

"I'm not a lolicon!" Uiharu shouted again, so tremendously embarrassed at what had just happened, even more than when Saten flipped her skirt in the middle of a crowded street.

Shokuhou cleared her throat to get rid of any remaining giggles that might have been lodged there before putting on an apologetic look, "Sorry, Uiharu-san, I didn't think she'd go that far. If it's any consolation I'll let you do my hair." She said as she sat in front of Uiharu, her back to the flower headed girl as she looked at Saten, holding up 9 fingers and giving the level zero a wink and grin that Saten returned.

Uiharu was a bit flummoxed. Whereas both Saten and Shokuhou had experience in styling their own hair, Uiharu had always had short hair that didn't need styling, so she had no idea what to do.

She looked at Kuroko, who was glaring at her with hate in her eyes due to what the flower headed girl could only assume was her close proximity to the teleporter's girlfriend, and remembered how the telepath had called Kuroko's style immature. So the level one decided that, if the blond was going to tease her with an immature hair style, then she would do the same with the blond.

Unfortunately, Uiharu had no idea how to tie a ribbon, so she used scrunchies instead.

The end result, Shokuhou decided as she looked in the mirror, wasn't all that bad. Her blond hair was now in long twintails that reached her thigh, giving her an immediate idea as to what personality she should adopt.

"Not bad," Kuroko admired, smirking beneath her fan as her eyes glowed with admiration.

Shokuhou cleared her throat again, and then blushed deep red, "W-what are you talking about? It's not like I'm trying to look good for you... baka..."

This time it was the lower levels that laughed at this. "Oh, I get it, you're doing Misaka."

"What?! I don't sound like that!" Misaka cried out in a huff.

"What?! I don't sound like that!" Shokuhou repeated in a creepily perfect imitation, even adding the little huff at the end.

The electromaster glared at the other level five, "Don't copy me." Misaka seethed.

The telepath grinned, falling back into her own facial expression for a moment, "But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Misaka-san~" she cooed as her grin turned once again into that little embarrassed pout that reminded the others of Misaka once again. "Not that I want to flatter you... Baka..."

After a glare and a few warning sparks the black haired girls' laughter was cut short. Saten and Uiharu shared a glance, they knew they should probably move onto something else to distract everyone. "I think it's your turn now Uiharu." Saten said.

"There's less you can do with short hair though..." Kuroko pointed out.

"Not without cutting it or going to a salon at least." Shokuhou agreed.

Saten considered it then suddenly had a burst of inspiration. She reached into her bag with a grin.

…

* * *

"Saten-san, what is this!" Uiharu cried out in surprise as she tugged up the item that the level zero had crammed onto her head. She could hear the laughter of the others.

"It's a wig." Saten supplied helpfully, holding up a mirror for Uiharu to inspect herself.

"An Afro?!" Uiharu gasped in horror as she saw her reflection, "Why in the world did you put this on me?!" She shouted as she ripped it off and threw it towards the other end of the booth.

"Gomen, gomen," the level zero apologized, "it was the only one I had on me."

"Why exactly did you have that with you?" Kuroko asked.

"Funny story," Saten said, "but aside from the point. If you don't want an afro, Uiharu, I don't know what I can do for you. As I said that's the only wig I have and with your short hair there isn't any other way to style it."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Shokuhou chimed in, pulling a remote out of her handbag and waving it around, "Master of Illusion remember? Misaka-san won't be able to see it because of her ability, but I can make it so you look like you have any sort of hairstyle you want, no matter how short your hair actually is."

"Really?" Uiharu asked, her attention now fully on the blond, "even a hime cut?"

"Even a hime cut." the level five verified pressing a button on the remote and showing her a mirror that displayed a reflection of Uiharu with the full, dazzling hime cut of her dreams.

"I look... I look so elegant!" She practically squealed in delight.

"You actually do." Agreed Kuroko, speaking again in her Kongou-impersonation, "It's amazing to think that you're still just a commoner."

For some reason, Saten-san, who had been holding her hand tightly over her mouth let out a loud, "Pfft" before devolving into full blown laughter, ten times louder than any other that afternoon. She looked at the telepath and gave her a thumbs up, "100 out of ten!" she declared. She would have hugged and kissed the blonde out of sheer admiration if she didn't think that Kuroko would teleport her to the moon for daring to do such a thing.

The thing about Shokuhou's power was that the illusions it let her conjure up existed in the mind of the person seeing them, and whereas Uiharu and Kuroko were seeing an elegant hime cut, and Misaka was seeing nothing out of the ordinary at all, Saten and Shokuhou were seeing a massive green afro covered in flowers atop the head of the level one.

The laughter was so loud that the restaurant owner actually asked them to leave, but Shokuhou took care of that with her ability as well while Saten settled down again.

Once the last of the laughter had died off, with three of the five members of the table still unsure what had caused it, they got back on track with the conversation.

"It's your turn now, Onee-sama." Kuroko began, teleporting behind the electromaster. After Uiharu's flagrant disregard of the fact that Shokuhou was her girlfriend and therefore the blond's hair was hers to do, Kuroko was determined not to let anyone else do her other girlfriend's hair as well.

Misaka thought about protesting but decided that she might as well go through with it. After all, everyone else had. She felt Kuroko's hands go through her hair, her fingers running through the strands and stroking the scalp in an oddly soothing massage.

This lasted about a minute and a half before deep sniffing sounds made Misaka realize that Kuroko wasn't styling her hair. Rather the teleporter seemed too busy feeling it and smelling it like a-

"Damn pervert!" Misaka yelled, a blush taking over her face, "Don't smell my hair!"

For the second time Kuroko was left charred. Shokuhou grinned, leaning over the teleporter and tapping her nose with a finger. "Baka~. Pervert~." She cooed teasingly.

"Saten-san, please do it properly." Misaka said to the level zero. She had done the best, most complex style so she clearly had talent and she was less likely to do something as embarrassing as Kuroko had just done.

Saten paled slightly, not exactly eager to go next after what the electromaster had just done to Kuroko. Then she realized it was an interesting opportunity, one she doubted she'd ever have again.

Misaka had more hair than Uiharu but still not quite enough to style in any major way. Saten did have an idea though. Again she reached into her bag and pulled out a hairband, which had another funny, but irrelevant, story behind it. She slid it into place on Misaka's head, pushing her bangs back and to the side and baring her forehead.

After sorting out a few more stray locks of hair she leant back and examined her work. Not as good or complex as Kuroko's but certainly satisfactory. Misaka looked in the mirror and was similarly satisfied, but not amazed.

"The only question is who you should imitate." Saten wondered.

"Hair can be used to express yourself but that doesn't mean that every single style of hair necessarily expresses things about you," Misaka said, "Hair hardly encapsulates your personality."

"Exactly, Misaka-san," Shokuhou chimed in, "if people were so simple that you could figure out their personality by hair alone then they would be so very boring."

"Especially when some people can't even grow their ideal hair cut." Uiharu sighed, knowing her beloved hime cut was, after all, simply an illusion that would disappear quickly.

"And can you imagine what getting a haircut would be like? It would be a whole personality transfer each and every time." Saten said.

"Yep. It's good to know that if Onee-sama comes out of the barber's shop with long hair or no hair at all she'd still be the same Onee-sama," Kuroko concurred as she sat behind Shokuhou, groping her and nuzzling the telepath's blond hair both to make it even between the two level fives and because she really enjoyed it. The telepath herself didn't seem to bothered by it either.

Misaka sighed, a massive vein throbbing in her forehead as she used her ability to magnetize the nails in Kuroko's hair, pulling her away from the blond and sticking her head to the wall.

"And no matter what haircut you have you'll always be as big a pervert as ever won't you?"

Kuroko just frowned as yet another hairstyle was turned against her.

Shokuhou giggled then looked to Misaka with a grin. "You might be the same person regardless of hairstyle but I think you should get it cut pretty similar to before. After all," the telepath began as she got out her phone and slid to the end of the booth, "in the words of a certain scientific railgun..." She hit the call button and Saten's phone began issuing an all too familiar voice saying 'You have pretty hair' over and over again.

It took only a second for Misaka to recognize it and turn beet red. She glared at Shokuhou with pure hatred in her eyes. The blond simply winked and took off running, giggling all the while. Misaka's glare then settled on Saten, causing her to pale.

"I... Uh..." The level zero began, then she too was gone, running in the same direction as the telepath with the electromaster following hot on their heels.

Uiharu and Kuroko, now free from the wall, stayed in the restaurant. There was a look of deep concentration on the teleporter's face that suggested she was off in her own little world at the moment, a fact the flower headed girl used to slip out unnoticed and leave her colleague to pay the bill herself.

As the level one left she heard a single sentence from the teleporter, "Hmm... an Onee-sama ringtone..."

* * *

[1]: I seems that in both of my universe's I give Kuroko some kleptomaniacal tendencies... I know she's a very moral person (minus the stalking and invasions of privacy...) so it may seem a bit against character, but I just don't see anyone having that power and not making a few things disappear into their bag every so often... Kuroko is only human after all.

* * *

Author's Note: With this I'm caught up to where I was before. I'm happy that I've gotten more reviews for it this time, and I hope that trend continues.

The new content starts in less than a week. So be ready for it my faithful readers.

Anyway... this chapter was an interesting little idea I had that turned out better than I could have hoped. I got some fun conversations in as well as another chance to show the interaction between Shokuhou and Saten, who have a great little dynamic going that I really enjoy writing.


	4. Of Work and Weakness

"You're sick as well?" Kuroko asked, her voice full of concern but a keen ear could hear the slight panic in it.

"As well? So...Uiharu isn't feeling well either?" Konori deduced from the other end of the phone line. The older woman's voice was scratchy and hoarse from her sore throat and Kuroko could easily hear just how stuffed up her nose was from the voice's thick, nasally quality.

"Yeah, but that isn't surprising. She's sick half of the time anyway, it's inevitable that she'd be out during cold and flu season," Kuroko explained, "So can Aomi or someone else come in or what?"

"Aomi is looking after me. I tried to ask her to just leave me and go but..." Konori glanced at the woman who was peeling apples at the foot of her bed. The woman smiled and winked when she noticed Konori's look.

"I've told you before, Konori, you clearly need me right now. Maybe if you had a boyfriend or something like I do then you wouldn't need me, but right now I'm the only one who can look after you." Aomi stated, "besides, this is one of the first legitimate excuse I have to get out of that boring job," she added under her breath

Konori rolled her eyes at her roommate then burst into a coughing fit. Once she finished she heard Kuroko say, "you really are sick..." As if she had not quite believed it until Konori had almost coughed up a lung.

"Yeah," Konori agreed, not having the breath yet for anything more than that one word reply. Once she had recovered somewhat she continued, "You can't handle all the patrols and work by yourself. Should I request some backup from another branch for you?"

Despite the offer, Konori somewhat doubted any other branches would accept the call. Judgment Branch 177 had...a reputation among the other branches.

The reason Judgment as a whole was notoriously useless was primarily because so few people took it seriously. It was volunteer work after all, not even a real job.

People who joined Judgment did so for a variety of reasons, whether they were valedictorian types who did it to brush up their resumes, bullies who wanted the authority in order to abuse it, goody-two-shoes types who did it because they wanted to help others, or thrill seekers who saw it as an exciting thing to do after school.

All of these types became quickly disillusioned when they saw what Judgment work actually involved and most people either dropped it altogether, because in the end it was just volunteer work. That or they just treated it as if it was no big deal, another game to pass time.

However, Branch 177, with the exception of Aomi and two other ghost members who never showed up, took their jobs entirely too seriously, far more seriously than most kids could be expected to take a job that was primarily doing chores voluntarily with little recognition, less thanks, and far too much paperwork. Konori had lost count of how many members had lasted less than a week before Kuroko's serious attitude drove them to request a transfer or just never show up again.

"No. I will be fine by myself," Kuroko stubbornly protested, "I am fully capable."

Konori sighed, which led her to begin coughing again. When she finally stopped she took a sip of water from the cup offered to her by Aomi before catching her breath and continuing, "We're stretched thin enough with three people. There's no way that you can do it alone. You can't even go on a formal patrol without someone on the computer."

"Uiharu is not paralyzed with illness. She might not be able to go in, but she's smart, I'm sure she can do all of the necessary things from home. With expensive enough cakes I'm sure I can convince her." Kuroko reasoned.

"What if I called Tora-kun? I'm sure he'd be willing to help," Konori said.

Kuroko's frown was so deep that Konori could feel it from the other end of the phone. "He is studying for his finals next week, so he can't do it." The teleporter explained. "I told you I can handle it. Now goodbye, Konori-senpai, and I hope you feel better soon."

After hanging up Kuroko disappeared from her room, going to visit the third fanciest and most expensive cake shop in the Gardens of Education to use to coax her flower-headed colleague to do the necessary work.

* * *

Back in the room Shokuhou glanced at the spot the teleporter had just vacated and shook her head gently. "Well it seems her day's been booked..." she remarked before looking back at the electromaster who was sitting on the bed.

The chestnut haired girl currently had her ears plugged as she glared down at the manga beneath her. Misaka had seen it on Shokuhou's bookshelf and decided to give it a try. She had quickly gotten really involved the series.

Unfortunately for the electro master, Shokuhou had gotten bored after applying her lipstick and for the past half hour, had been systematically spoiling all the future chapters Misaka had yet to get to.

In the telepath's defense all of the "spoilers" were lies, so it didn't actually ruin any surprises, but it did produce several amusing reactions. However it was getting a little old so she decided to stop, instead talking about this new development. "I don't know why she wouldn't be able to handle it herself. Judgment work is easy enough and she _can_ teleport." Shokuhou reasoned as she stood up from her desk and sat down next to Misaka, slightly wary of the tiny sparks of ire that lept between the electro master's bangs, but not overly worried about them.

"Her branch covers a wide area and teleportation doesn't mean she can be everywhere at once," Misaka explained, frustration obvious in her tone as she took her fingers out of her ears (not that that had done her any good anyway, she could still hear every word perfectly).

"Hmmm... maybe she could use a little help..." Shokuhou began, her every word dripping with that far too familiar tone that signified another harebrained scheme was fast approaching.

"Planning on joining Judgment for the day?" Misaka asked, raising her eyes to look at the blond, an eyebrow raised, "you don't seem the type."

The telepath shrugged. "Why not? It seems easy enough especially for a level five like myself, and it might be exciting," her eyes were twinkling ever brighter than usual, "and I get to help ease Kuroko's workload."

Misaka opened her mouth, recalling her own experiment with Judgment work and the disaster that had followed. It had been a pretty awful day for her and she planned to explain exactly that to Shokuhou when the electromaster remembered how the blond had been teasing her all morning.

So instead she closed her mouth, stood up, and walked over to Kuroko's desk. She opened the second drawer from the top and took out a familiar green armband before tossing it to the telepath.

"That's Kuroko's spare armband," Misaka smiled, "If you want to try out her work then I say go for it. I'll even go with you and keep you company."

"Aww... aren't you a sweetheart~." Shokuhou cooed as she fastened the armband to her shoulder and went to the bathroom to admire her new appearance. She winked at her reflection before striking a dramatic pose, "Judgment desu no~!" She exclaimed and giggled.

"Yeah yeah, you look lovely," Misaka rolled her eyes and grabbed Shokuhou by the shoulder, tugging her along behind her as she went towards the door, "Now come on. It's a bit of a walk to Branch 177's jurisdiction and you don't want to be late to your first day on the beat."

Shokuhou waited until they came into the sight of a few girls to lean forward and kiss the electro master's cheek, "Aww, you think I look lovely? You really are being a sweetheart today."

The telepath was slightly surprised when the only reactions were the excited squeals of their spectators and an only slightly noticeable increase to the size of the sparks dancing along Misaka's head.

'So she has some mischief of her own planned? Good, that should make today even more exciting.' The blond thought, grinning widely as she considered the kind of pranks that the stick in the mud electromaster could have planned for her today.

She'd be disappointed to learn that Misaka intended to let the stint in Judgment speak for itself. Misaka planned to do nothing but watch as the dainty Shokuhou was quickly overwhelmed by the apparently simple work of Judgment.

* * *

After their uneventful walk out of the Garden of Education, the two soon reached the jurisdiction of Judgment Branch 177.

To Misaka's delight they were soon approached. "Excuse me... Judgment?" A girl, perhaps a year or two younger than both of them with long black hair in a ponytail, asked as she walked up to the pair. "I... I'm... I'm a bit lost," she admitted with a slight blush, clearly embarrassed to be in this position. "I was wondering how to get to 1743 J street."

Shokuhou shrugged. "I don't know," she said simply and began walking away only to feel a hand wrap around her shoulder. When the blond looked back Misaka was glaring at her with a disapproving frown.

Then Misaka turned back to girl and smiled. "Sorry about that, she's new." The electro \master apologized, tugging Shokuhou back beside her. The chestnut haired girl then dug into her bag and drew out a map before handing it to Shokuhou.

The blond looked at the map for a moment, confused as to what she was supposed to do with this scrap of paper. Suddenly a glimmer of realization hit and she smiled before handing the map to the lost girl. "Here you go."

The girl frowned and Misaka face-palmed in exasperation. "That's not it." The electromaster sighed. "You're supposed to find the way for her on the map."

"I'll... just make my own way there... I know I shouldn't have bothered asking Judgment." The girl said as she handed the map back to the blond, her voice a clear mix of bitter and frustrated. She now understood exactly what people meant when they called Judgment useless.

Shokuhou frowned as she heard this and pulled a remote out of her back, pointing it at the girl and pressing a button, causing her to stop in place. "Fine, I'll do it your way," she said to Misaka as she unfolded the map.

"What did you do to the girl?!" the electromaster demanded accusingly.

"She's fine, just a bit out of it..." Shokuhou said as she struggled with the map for a minute or so before finally figuring out the girl's destination. Then she pressed the button again and watched as the girl snapped out of her reverie and looked around, then she saw Shokuhou and glanced at the armband.

She walked up to them and said, "Excuse me... Judgment? I... I'm... I'm a bit lost," she admitted with a slight blush, clearly embarrassed to be in this position. "I was wondering how to get to 1743 J street."

"Okay," Shokuhou grinned, "let me help you with that." She unfolded the map and pretended to consider it momentarily for effect before putting it down, "You're quite close actually. Just go down this road and take your third right. Then keep on walking until you see the sign for J-street on the left and it should be somewhere around there."

Shokuhou could tell that the girl was slightly surprised. She had always heard Judgment was useless, it had been why she was so reluctant to ask one, but apparently they weren't quite as useless as she had thought. She smiled at the busty blond and said, "Thank you very much." Before walking off in the specified direction.

Shokuhou could feel Misaka glaring at her. She turned her head slightly with a smirk and gave the electromaster a wink. "That's the great thing about my power. It gives me the luxury of retries."

Misaka forced a smile. "That's great," she remarked, "aren't you just so damn lucky... but you still have lots more work to do."

The telepath grinned as she turned around and continued walking on her little informal patrol.

* * *

It wasn't too much longer until Shokuhou came across another crisis. This one took the form of a crying child who stood in the middle of the sidewalk.

A small group of roughly three people were gathered around the little girl, trying to calm her down and find out what was causing the tears. Misaka looked at the blond. "You're up." She said, wondering how the blond would handle this newest situation.

The telepath simply smiled and walked up to the group. "Step aside please, I'm with Judgment and I can handle this." A few of the people glared at her, but they moved back, eager to see the train wreck that would inevitably result from someone as useless as Judgment trying to comfort this inconsolable child.

Shokuhou knelt in front of the crying girl and reached into her bag. She pressed a button on one of the remotes as she drew out a lollipop and offered it to the girl. The girl stopped crying almost immediately and happily took the lollipop.

"Are you ok now? Can you tell me what happened?" Shokuhou asked, her voice gentle and kind as she softly stroked the girl's waist length brown hair with her gloved hand.

The girl sniffled and wiped away the last few tears staining her cheeks and eyes. "I got lost. We were on our way to the park, my classmates and me, and I saw this cute kitty. I tried to pet it but it ran away so I chased it and now I'm lost and I didn't get to pet the kitty."

"There there, don't worry..." Shokuhou said calmingly as she fiddled around with another remote in her backpack, reading the girl's memories to see what her school was and who her teacher was. Then she looked up the school on her phone. It had the teacher's cell number on the site as well. "I'll help you find your class again." The blond assured the girl as she dialed the number.

After a couple of rings someone picked up. "Who is it!?" asked the frantic sounding woman.

"Is this of Hanachi Kindergarten? I found a missing student of yours."

"You found her? Thank god...where are you?" The woman asked, sounding unbelievably relieved.

Shokuhou told the woman their current location and stayed with the girl for a few minutes until the teacher arrived to pick her up. Just before running off the girl turned to her with a big smile and said "Thank you Onee-chan."

She giggled in response, ruffling the girl's hair. "No problem, it's my duty as a member of Judgment after all."

"Wow...I wanna join Judgment when I grow up too!" She chirped happily, eyes wide with excitement. Then the teacher called her again and she ran off.

Shokuhou smiled again as she went back to Misaka, who had an even deeper frown on her face than before. The electromaster had never imagined the telepath as someone who liked kids, so she had thought it would be the perfect task to show her how difficult Judgment work actually was.

Then Misaka's mouth curled up into a grin. "Nice job." She said honestly. "Now we have other work to do." During the encounter with the little girl Misaka had been hacking into the Judgment database, looking for something really bad for Shokuhou to do. She believed she had found something that would show her just how difficult it really was to be a Judgment agent.

The electromaster grabbed the telepath's hand and began to lead her away. This caused the blond to smirk. "Oh, so now it's you who's eager to hold my hand, eh? Finally overcoming your shyness? Maybe next you won't even have trouble kissing in public."

Misaka quickly withdrew her hand. "I'm not eager to hold your hand, I was just trying to make sure you wouldn't run away." The electromaster defended.

Shokuhou bounded forward, wrapping her arms around Misaka's, pressing her chest to the other girl's shoulder. "Now why in the world would I want to run away, Misaka-san? I'm having fun and I get to spend the day with you. Why in the world would I want to escape from this paradise?"

Misaka blushed and tried to extricate her arm, but the blond's grip was surprisingly strong. "I doubt you'll be saying that soon." The embarrassed electromaster growled.

Shokuhou's smirk simply grew wider at that. "Oh? Is that so? What's this next piece of work I have to do that will have me quaking in my boots?"

* * *

Now it was Misaka that grinned as they neared their destination.

The clanging sound of metal on stone reverberated around the street and a small crowd was gathered, apparently beholding some spectacle or another. "Malfunctioning cleaning robot. It spewed the trash it collected everywhere, now you have to go and pick it all up."

"Hmmm..." Shokuhou frowned slightly as she detached and went to check the scene. She could see the trash can looking robot running into the wall again and again as it shot off garbage in all directions. The street was littered with wrappers and plastic.

"This is Judgment's duty as well." Misaka smirked. "So go on and clean it up."

Shokuhou shook her head and drew out another remote from her bag. She pointed it at the gathered crowd and pressed a button. Instantly the people began shambling forward, picking up the trash and putting it in a nearby dumpster. "Why send in a Queen when a pawn will do?" She asked innocently.

This was enough to push Misaka over the edge. "What the hell?!" She exploded. "You can't just do that."

"Ahh, but I can. My power allows me to control people. It gives me the luxury of support. I never have to do things on my own as long as there is someone around." Shokuhou grinned.

"That doesn't mean that it's ok. It's morally wrong." The electromaster insisted.

"Howso? It's not like they were doing anything anyway. They were just standing around watching. The common person needs to take responsibility every so often or else this city will become a much more unpleasant place to live." Shokuhou nodded, smirking again with that annoying sense of superiority that she constantly exuded.

"And I notice that this means you don't need to do any work at all..." Misaka pointed out.

The telepath shrugged. "If that's the way it turns out then I guess that's how it was supposed to be..."

"Can you do anything without your ability? Anything at all?" The chestnut haired girl asked.

"Of course I can." The blond defended herself, actually seeming a bit insulted.

Suddenly an idea struck Misaka. She suppressed a smile and rolled her eyes. "Sure you can..." She agreed sarcastically. "Without your power you're completely useless aren't you?"

Shokuhou frowned, taking the bait. She removed her handbag from around her shoulder and tossed it to the electromaster. "I'm just as great without my power, and I'll prove it." She said as she walked off. Misaka followed, finally allowing herself to smile as she imagined the blond trying to fix things without her ability.

* * *

It was about a quarter of an hour later when the first chance came. As they were walking along they heard the sounds of someone running and being chased. Shokuhou went towards the source of the noise to investigate and was almost run over by a nerdy looking kid who burst out of a nearby alley. Several tough looking delinquents were hot on his trail, but stopped as they saw the green armband pinned to the Queen's shoulder.

"Hiding behind Judgment are you?" The head delinquent scoffed. "You really think that'll protect you?"

The nerd's eyes widened and he realized that Judgment were useless and wouldn't serve to protect him for more than an instant, so he bolted, pushing Shokuhou towards the group of delinquents, hoping to at least slow them down.

Shokuhou stumbled forward a couple of steps before catching her balance directly in front of the delinquents. She huffed at the rough treatment. "Jerk..." She said before turning to the delinquents. She cleared her throat. "But you really shouldn't be chasing him like that. I'm sure we can work this out peacefully."

The head delinquent, a female who wore bandages wrapped around a flat chest with her school jacket hanging from her shoulders, looked at this Judgment pest. Though the Sukeban was smirking as she scanned her face, seeing just how soft and breakable it seemed, the smirk quickly turned into a deep frown as she saw the blonde's chest. She glanced down at her own ironing board chest and she felt a vein popping in her forehead.

"Why would I want to work anything out peacefully with a COW LIKE YOU?!" She screamed as she drew back to punch Shokuhou.

The blond instinctively went for one of her remotes but they weren't there. Her eyes widened briefly before shutting tight as she flinched in preparation for the incoming punch.

* * *

After a few seconds she realized that the punch had yet to come. She cracked her eye open in order to see what was going on. She saw Misaka standing in front of her, blocking the punch with her arms.

"What the..." The delinquent began before a bolt of lightning tore through the group, shocking all of them into unconsciousness.

Shokuhou's mouth fell open in surprise as Misaka rubbed her arm where it had been hit by the sukeban. "You alright?" The electromaster asked her.

"You... you protected me..." Shokuhou said, amazed.

Misaka blushed and looked away. "Well... yeah. So what?"

"I... I... why did you protect me?" She asked. "I didn't order you to. I couldn't order you to if I tried."

"So what? I protected you because Kuroko would never let me hear the end of it if you got hurt. No other reason. Besides...isn't that what friends do? We look after each other..." Misaka's blush deepened.

"I... I don't know what friends do..." Shokuhou sighed as she looked away, "before Kuroko, I never really had friends. I had lackeys and underlings, people who were around me and who would do as I ask, but they weren't my friends. They don't do what I ask because they want to look after me they do it because they want something from me. None of them would ever jump in front of an attack meant for me..." Shokuhou glanced at Misaka again, this time their eyes met. "I've always been used to that. If I wanted someone to do something for me I had to make them, whether with my ability or my authority. And I'm ok with that..."

"Bullshit," Misaka interrupted, her words and tone far too crass for a lady of her stature. "You hate it just as much as I do... the fake sincerity of people who are only friends to your face. You just hate it less than you hate being alone, and you hate it less than you hate being rejected. You take the easy route so you don't have to deal with the possibility of failure."

"So what? I don't have to be alone, I don't have to get rejected! I don't have to fail." Shokuhou protested, irked at how the insensitive Misaka had so completely seen through her. "I don't need to risk getting hurt and being hated by others. That is the luxury of my ability. In this maze of life you were given a sledgehammer to batter at the walls with, I was given a map that showed me where the easy route is. What kind of idiot would I be if I didn't take it?"

"A sledgehammer eh?" Misaka sighed. "That's probably a good analogy. I used to be the same as you actually. Always taking the easy way because I had the power to do so and no patience to take the harder way. The difference is my sledgehammer can't give me an easy route with people. I always used to just avoid them. Then along came Kuroko... too persistent to avoid and too stubborn to sledge. There is no easy route with her, no shortcut, no nothing. She shows up exactly where you least want her to, when you least want her to, and doesn't go away."

"Do you have a point or are you just going to badmouth my girlfriend," Shokuhou huffed.

'Our girlfriend.' Misaka almost corrected her, but that would be way too embarrassing, so she simply said, "I'm not badmouthing her. It might have been annoying at first, but it was those traits that eventually allowed us to become friends. And that's when I realized. The easy way never gets you what you want. It's the challenges that make life fun. Kuroko never takes the easy route, she makes everything so damned difficult. Everything is a fight with her, and a fight she can handle by herself. I thought she just had it easier than me, I thought that all her nagging was simply because she had easier battles to fight. So one day I decided to try out this Judgment thing that she was so obsessed with. And I found out that it was a lot harder than it seemed"

"So you did this kind of thing before as well?" Shokuhou asked. She had had suspicions that it had been something like that ever since the electro master's reaction this morning.

"Yeah. I had a miserable time of it. I thought it would be easy, exciting. Going around arresting baddies and stuff like that. But it isn't like that at all... it's nothing but an endless progression of all these people with their unreasonable demands and complete lack of gratitude followed by menial, thankless labor. But it really made me appreciate how hard Kuroko works." Misaka stated.

"And you were trying to teach me the same lesson were you?" Shokuhou's eyes twinkled and a smirk began spreading across her face. "But my powers made it all so easy. Kind of ruined your plan, eh?"

"Pretty much." The electromaster sighed as she handed the telepath's handbag full of remotes back to her. "And the one time you agreed to relinquish your powers is the one time you really needed them, so that lesson kind of backfired."

"Maybe... but it did teach me another lesson," The blond winked as she stepped forward, clasping Misaka's hand as it held the handbag and leaning in to plant a kiss on the chestnut haired girl's cheek. "That you are a true friend..."

Misaka blushed and stepped away, sparking slightly in embarrassment. "What the heck? What kind of lesson is that!?"

Shokuhou giggled, a genuine one rather than a teasing one for once. "You're the only thing I've ever taken the hard route to attain you know? Even Kuroko I'm ashamed to say I took a shortcut with. But not you. Considering how well it turned out maybe it wouldn't hurt to take the scenic route sometimes with other things as well." She turned around and skipped forward a couple steps. "I'll keep my remotes on me, but I'll see if I can solve things without them. In exchange you have to help me. That is what friends do after all..." She winked at the electro master.

Misaka sighed and shook her head, but a small smile was threatening to tear across her face. "Fine, whatever. Just don't expect me to do everything for you." She said as she began following the blond out of the place as the pair continued their unofficial patrol.

* * *

The next few hours passed by semi-uneventfully when Misaka's cell phone began to ring. She took it out of her pocket. She peeked at the number and saw that it was Kuroko.

"Hey, there Kuroko," she said as she pressed the phone to her ear. Shokuhou, upon hearing the other member of the conversation quickly pressed as close to Misaka as possible to hear what was being said as well.

This earned a glare from the electromaster, who tried to pull away and escape the grasp. But the telepath's arms were like vices when Shokuhou wanted them to be, and they kept a firm hold on the other girl even as she continued her greeting. "How has your Judgment work been going?" She asked like she usually did when the teleporter called her while "on the beat".

"Mine has been fine. How about yours?" Kuroko's tone was somewhere between accusing and resigned.

"What do you mean?" Misaka played innocent, though her voice easily betrayed her guilt.

Kuroko sighed, resignation even more apparent than it had been before. "I might not be a mind reader like, Shokuhou-senpai is, but I know you very well, Onee-sama. After hearing my conversation with Konori this morning I know that you'd want to do something to help . Your impetuousness and disregard for the rules would of course lead you to impersonate a Judgment agent, again, in order to help me out."

"Sorry to burst your bubble Kuroko-chan but it was my idea," Shokuhou informed her.

"Exactly, it was her idea." Misaka nodded, somewhat surprised and somewhat grateful at the blond's admission of responsibility. "Now do you care to apologize?"

Kuroko took a breath, perhaps to apologize, or perhaps to retort, but was interrupted by Shokuhou who grinned and continued with her previous statement. "Though I can't say Misaka showed much opposition to my attempts _and_ she has been helping me for the past several hours, but it was still my idea." Misaka's look of surprise turned to a glare at the betrayal.

"Listen." Kuroko's voice was soft, the accusing edge now completely gone but traces of the resignation from before still lingered. The new tone was an odd mix of understanding and disappointment that Misaka dubbed Kuroko's "mom voice" because of how much it reminded her of her parents when they were scolding her as a child for some mistake she had made."I'm not saying I don't appreciate your wanting to help me. It really means a lot to me that you care about me enough to do so. But you have to go through the proper protocols, otherwise all the help in the world could blow up in our faces."

"Your protocol would call for months of training. You needed help today. Following protocol here would defeat the need for the protocol in question." Misaka fought back with logic.

"Then accept that you can't help, that I don't need help." Kuroko's stubbornness shone through her words brilliantly.

Luckily there was one person who could easily see past the shine. "If that's the case," Shokuhou began, "then why did you wait this long to confront us and tell us to stop?"

Misaka caught the subtle accusation and a small smile returned to her face. "Yeah. Awfully convenient that you only raise a fuss after your shift is over..."

"I... you... I was just too busy to think about it before!" Kuroko instantly shed the "mom voice" and entered that huffy yet shrill voice she adopted when she was trying to defend herself.

The two level fives shared a smile. Kuroko would never ask for help, and in most cases would get angry when it was given. Nevertheless there were times when she would rely on the help of others despite not requesting it or showing much gratitude when it came. It seemed that today was another such example of that.

"So now that you're done with your shift would you care to join us for some fun?" Shokuhou asked, mercifully sparing Kuroko from any teasing.

"I have to go to Gâteau du Jardin, that fancy cake shop in the Gardens of Education, to pick up some treats for Uiharu to thank her for working despite being sick. I think Saten is there already so we can all hang out there." Once again Kuroko's tone changed to a more casual one with a speed that Misaka swore would induce whiplash one of these days.

"We'll meet you there then," Misaka said and hung up after exchanging goodbyes. She looked at Shokuhou expectantly, waiting for the telepath to let go of her now that her reason for clinging was gone.

The blond returned a look that told the electromaster that the call was an excuse, not a reason, and she had no intention of letting go.

Misaka's gaze steeled and told the other girl that she'd better let go. It would be difficult to move like this even if the electromaster wanted it. Considering the person causing the inconvenience it was a double whammy of unpleasantness.

Shokuhou let go momentarily and instead hooked her arms around Misaka's, pressing her chest up against it and grinning at Misaka to let her know that this was as far as she was willing to compromise.

Misaka was about to turn up the intensity of her glare in an attempt to force to blond off of her but her gaze wavered as those twin monsters pressed to her arm entered her periphery and her look of disapproval turned to one of jealousy.

Shokuhou offered a half smile that threatened endless teasing if Misaka were to force her off then she lifted an eyebrow, prompting her to begin moving.

Misaka did so reluctantly, treating the girl clinging to her arm as more of a parasite she wanted off and away than any sort of girlfriend.

It was only a few steps before Misaka was struck by how easily she could communicate with Shokuhou.

Being able to have a whole conversation, even a short one, without a single word was not something she expected to be able to do the Queen. Had she really gotten this close to Shokuhou this quickly? Or perhaps it was something to do with the level five status that they shared?

* * *

Whatever it was the thought managed to distract Misaka long enough for the pair to reach Uiharu's apartment. When they entered they saw that Kuroko had already arrived and Saten was there too, carrying a wet washcloth and basin back to the bathroom with a far too pleased look on her face.

Uiharu was sitting in bed with fresh pajamas on, arms curled around her protectively as she shot poisonous looks at the other two. A single look at the flower-headed girl's slightly traumatized looking face told Misaka that she didn't really want to know what had happened.

Not that she had a chance with Kuroko teleporting over to greet them within half a second of them opening the door. She hugged them both and kissed them on the cheek before pulling them down to the table where Kuroko had already set their cake. She had picked each of them, including Saten, a slice of their favorite cake. Uiharu alone had two slices. It was a gift for her after all.

Shokuhou pouted at this fact, but Kuroko was turned away so she didn't see it. The telepath didn't feel like it was an important enough matter to pursue, so she gave the pouting up quickly and began to dig into her cake, reluctantly admitting to herself that sometimes one had to give up quantity for quality.

Saten came back into the room a few seconds later and sat down, grinning at the two level fives. "So I hear you tried out Judgment work. Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes, actually. I got to help my Kuroko-chan and spend some quality time with Misaka-san too. It wasn't that easy most of the time, but I can't say it wasn't fun," Shokuhou responded with a happy twinkle in her eyes where the mischievous one usually shined.

"Of course it isn't easy," Kuroko piped up, "it's a lot of hard and thankless work. And you two didn't even get to all of the paperwork involved. I hope this has taught you to be a bit more appreciative of all the hard work I put into doing what I do."

"Actually the person I truly admire after this is Uiharu," Shokuhou stated bluntly. "I mean, she does all the stuff you do without having powers to help her like your teleportation helps you."

Kuroko's face shifted from surprised, to angry, to sickenly sweet in a nanosecond. "That's true," she admitted. "Uiharu should be admired. She does so much without any sort of power to cheat her way though."

The look that Kuroko was fixing on Uiharu, with jealous, piercing eyes and a smile that screamed danger, made the flower-headed girl quake despite the words of praise. "Not only that but she's the greatest computer genius I know. She runs the whole cyber division of our branch almost... single... handedly." The look on Kuroko's face shifted again. The emotions her expression portrayed were hard to read but they were notably more pleasant than her previous one. "You're right. She does deserve admiration more. As today proved I'm pretty lost without her. A completely indispensable partner." Kuroko flashed a smile at Uiharu. "Thanks."

Uiharu's face was lit up by a blush that was certainly not caused by the fever. Kuroko never took her for granted but nor did she have a tendency to praise her to this degree. She tried to hide her face under the blanket to cover her embarrassment as she struggled to say, "y-y-yo-you-you're welcome."

The other people at the table noticeably relaxed and smiled at this. When Kuroko had started the jealousy fueled rant they had expected it to turn into a tantrum. But it seemed that it had a happy ending all around.

"That said," Kuroko interjected, her voice steel again, warning of some impending disharmony. "You're still clumsy and next to useless in a fight. You should start training with me again."

"No way! You're way too rough!" Uiharu protested.

"You should at least learn how to escape from a grapple, in case someone takes you hostage... again." Kuroko stated.

"Then I can have Konori teach me."

"You'd suffocate," Kuroko stated, her tone of voice making it clear that she was talking from experience. The sentence caused Saten to laugh, Shokuhou to giggle, and the other two to look down at their chests and frown.

Shortly after that the conversation got away from such things and the five girls continued to laugh and talk into the night.


	5. Of Tests and Talks

XXX

Drama Warning

XXX

* * *

Shokuhou was nothing if not a student of human behavior. People were complex creatures, with so many varying emotions and motivations that even with a lifetime of study, one would always discover that there was more to learn.

In comparison to most people, Kuroko was quite simple. There were only two settings to her feelings: Maximum and Off. Every emotion was intense, every action so spontaneous and filled with so much passion it often took Shokuhou's breath away. Not a day would pass when Shokuhou couldn't feel the strength and sincerity of Kuroko's seemingly limitless love...

That was... until now.

It had all started five days ago.

* * *

The five girls were relaxing at Judgment Branch 177 Headquarters; well ,three girls were relaxing at least, Kuroko and Uiharu were at their desks going through paperwork.

The situation was not appreciated by the restless Saten who suddenly declared, "Come on, it's been two hours you guys! Take a break and let's get something to eat."

Uiharu was amenable to this idea, instantly perking up at the thought of food. She rose from her chair and stretched her tired muscles. "Sure. Did you have anywhere particular in mind?"

"I was thinking that little cafe we went to last time," Saten replied, happy that her idea had been received and this apparent eternity of waiting while the others did work would soon be over.

"Sounds good," Misaka said, standing up and putting the homework she had been working on back in her bag.

"They do have pretty good scones," Shokuhou agreed as she put the homework she had been discreetly copying off of Misaka in her own bag.

"You guys go," Kuroko said from her desk, "I still have work to do here."

"If you're sure," Saten sighed, Not at all caught off guard by her auburn haired friend forsaking pleasure for work.

What did catch them off guard however was when Shokuhou said, "Actually... I'm not all that hungry, I think I'll stay here."

Saten, Misaka, and UIharu all looked at the blond as if she had grown a third eye, which was about as likely as the telepath ever not having an appetite for something sweet.

After a moment of contemplation Misaka realized what was happening and fixed the other level five with a suspicious glare, "I'm not that hungry either," she said, " I think I'll stay here too." She did not want to leave the blond alone with Kuroko. There was no telling what the two might get up to in her absence and her jealous side wouldn't allow her to stand back and let it happen.

For a second Saten looked confused, then disappointed. Finally a look of realization crossed her face. "Oh. OH! Ok, I understand," she said, dragging Uiharu towards the door with a deep blush on her face. "We'll... leave you to it then."

Misaka's brow's furrowed in confusion before a dark blush spread along her cheeks.. "Wait!" she tried calling out, hoping to clear up any misunderstanding. Saten and Uiharu had already left though, leaving Misaka standing awkwardly with her hand outstretched.

"If that's how it is," Kuroko started in her sexiest voice as she teleported onto the couch and out of her school blazer in a single action, "I guess I wouldn't mind postponing work for something like this." The teleporter smiled at the two as she undid the top button of her white school blouse.

Shokuhou smiled slightly at the puppy-like eagerness of Kuroko but shook her head, "No, that isn't what this is about." She said, putting her hand on Misaka's shoulders to calm down the sparking electromaster, "You just seemed a little gloomy so I thought I would ask what was up."

Both Misaka and Kuroko looked slightly surprised by this, however whereas Kuroko's surprise was accompanied by crushing disappointment that it was not, in fact, a threesome in the office, Misaka looked very much relieved for the same reason.

"Oh, yeah," Misaka nodded, "I felt that as well, the tension in your shoulders. I thought it had to do with work."

"No, she was like this before as well," Shokuhou informed the other girl, having noticed it almost as soon as she woke up, but hoping that it would have gotten better by now. "Is it something to do with your family?"

"No, it's just..." Kuroko sighed as she looked off into the distance, "Finals are coming up and I'm going to have to start studying tomorrow."

"Is that all?" Shokuhou asked, not expecting such a simple worry to be causing Kuroko so much distress.

"Unlike you, Shokuhou-senpai, who never studies and yet gets in the top five of their year, or you Onee-sama, who studies a few minutes here and there and gets the second highest score, I need to work hard to keep my grades up. Now that I have you two to distract me and can only get in a bit of studying in the middle of the night my grades have been slipping but I can't afford to do poorly on the finals. I've been putting it off as much as I could but starting tomorrow I'll need to focus on studying," Kuroko said, looking as if she was doing something wrong, something that she wished she didn't have to do.

The level fives shrugged, "Don't apologize for that. If you need to study, then study." Misaka said.

"Exactly, just work hard and get a good grade." The blond grinned and winked, "and I'll try not to distract you too much with my sexiness."

"Don't worry though. I might have to finish up all this paperwork before I start studying, but I was serious. I don't mind postponing it to show you guys enough affection to last for the week," Kuroko cooed, flashing her sexy smile again as she undid the second button to her shirt.

"Save it," Misaka warned with a glare and a blush.

"As intriguing as the offer sounds I'm going to have to agree with Misaka-san here," Shokuhou said, still not even close to ready for that level of intimacy.

Kuroko frowned again in deep disappointment, "Can we at least make out a little?" She pleaded.

Shokuhou giggled walking over to Kuroko to kneel down and kiss her deeply and passionately. She couldn't resist such a cute little pout.

After over a minute of solid kissing Shokuhou separated in order to breathe. Kuroko smiled at her before disappearing and reappearing in front of Misaka, who was looking away with a bright red face, trying her hardest to look disgusted. Kuroko gave her a pleading smile that made it more than obvious what she desired.

Somehow the blush increased just a notch before the electro master literally growled and kissed the teleporter just as deeply and passionately as Shokuhou had, causing the girl's auburn hair to literally stand on end from the static running through her from the kiss.

After another equally long make out session, Kuroko pulled away with a wide smile on her face, "Yeah... that should be enough to last me..." She said dreamily before glancing at the clock again. When she saw the time she sighed and went over to her desk to pick up her blazer and put it on again, "anyway, I should probably go. Uiharu should be getting her desert about now, so I should go and drag her back here."

Misaka's embarrassment about what she had just done was quite effectively dispelled by this surprising statement, "You mean you do that on purpose?"

"Of course I do. I need to do something to pay her back for always slipping her paperwork into my pile," Kuroko said as she disappeared.

* * *

A stark contrast to the unusually simple on-off nature of Kuroko's mind was that of the Queen of Tokiwadai. Trying to succinctly sum up Shokuhou's emotional state at any particular time was similar to attempting to describe a brilliant panorama or an artistic masterpiece to a blind person using only one word. It was not technically impossible, but there was so much information that was lost by that method.

Much like a masterpiece, Shokuhou's mind swirled with countless emotions, each a vibrant color on an endless palette. Sometimes the colors mixed, sometimes they separated, sometimes they would appear or disappear without warning over something as simple as an overheard whisper or a stray thought. The shapes and colors that they created were some of the most complex and mesmerizing things Shokuhou could imagine, and trying to sum it up with something like "happy" or "sad" was an insult to the majesty of the whole thing.

Today, however, Shokuhou would have found it surprisingly easy to tell someone how she was feeling if she had half a mind to do so.

The word that she would have chosen would be: "restless". There was a far more fitting word but she would not choose that one in a hundred years.

"You seem tense, my Queen." One of the lackeys in the Shokuhou's faction, a third year girl with curly black hair, unknowingly agreed with the level five's internal decision as she massaged the blond's shoulders.

"Maybe that's because you're not doing as good a job as you usually do, Hana-chan," Shokuhou teased the other girl, lilting voice not betraying her internal restlessness at all.

"If she's not doing a good enough job I'd be happy to take over," A second year named Hasoko with honey hair hanging down to her waist chirped enthusiastically from the side as she shined Shokuhou's shoes.

In response to the perceived threat to her much beloved position of The Queen's personal masseuse, Hana began massaging the level five slightly more enthusiastically. "S-sorry, my Queen." She apologized immediately

Shokuhou giggled, though it was more hollow than usual. She sighed as she glanced around the room.

Club Meeting Room 1-A, nicknamed "The Throne Room", was the largest room in the entire Garden of Education. It was not surprising, therefore, that the biggest and best facility would be owned by the largest faction. Usually up to sixty-eight people would be gathered here, a true who's who of some of the richest, most powerful girls in all of Academy City, all under the command of an esper whose wealth and power eclipsed all of theirs: Shokuhou Misaki.

However their leader, aptly known as the Queen of Tokiwadai, hadn't been coming very often recently, and when she did, she seemed different. Shokuhou still had a duty to her faction so she knew that her presence was required every so often, but now that she had some genuine friends on top of two girlfriends, the truth was, there were just other people she'd rather be around.

Thus the other girls found it a bit strange that their Queen had been there two days in a row. While they were immensely grateful and honored by her presence, there was an aura the Queen radiated that made them feel uneasy.

They all knew that it was all somehow that damn teleporter's fault, but none of them dared say it for fear of the swift, harsh punishments that were always received when one attempted to badmouth Shokuhou's girlfriends within earshot of her.

After her cursory glance around Shokuhou held in a sigh, smiling instead as she said, "Everyone's studying for the tests I'm guessing?"

Despite the size of her faction, there were only five people here today excluding herself. Considering the size of a normal gathering, even the ones she did not attend, she could only guess that something was holding people back.

"Yes," Henrietta, a very bright second year foreign girl whose job was to do The Queen's homework for her, confirmed. "Libraries and study rooms are all fit to bursting. It makes it harder to concentrate there than in any normal place, kind of defeating the point." The funny british accented Japanese served to somewhat improve the telepath's spirits, but the reminder of why she was there easily negated that.

When Kuroko had said she needed to focus on studying, Shokuhou had assumed she'd study for a few hours of the day. But like always, the teleporter took things way too far, devoting every single spare second to studying.

Every morning she'd already be awake by the time the alarm rang, and each night she'd stay up past until midnight or later. Every second that she wasn't at school she was studying. The only time her nose wasn't in a book was meal time, when she went back to her usual, lovey dovey, affectionate self.

But those only came three times a day and didn't last nearly long enough. And because they were almost exclusively on school grounds they couldn't do much during it. In effect the brief glimpse of what had been, what should be, made it even worse.

However that was only the cause of the problem, not the problem itself. The real issue was what had really brought her here, to her faction base for the second time in many days.

The far more fitting term for how Shokuhou felt, despite her reluctance to use it, was "lonely".

The blond was lonely, and it was hardly just because Kuroko and most of her faction were studying for the tests. She still had plenty of people to hang out with if she wanted to. Any of her faction would be more than happy to come if she called and she knew it would be an easy matter to coax Misaka, Uiharu, and Saten into taking a break from studying and hang out.

Shokuhou had considered doing that but, for some reason, found herself unable to. When she meditated on it she quickly figured out exactly why she felt like that.

Despite being Misaka's roommate and befriending Uiharu and Saten (more the latter than the former) she still felt like an outsider in their group. She had only been able to become friends with any of them because of Kuroko and without Kuroko there it felt a bit weird. It was a silly reason but it was enough to make her hesitant and she ended up not doing it after all.

So instead she decided to go where she knew she belonged, her faction, where she was the biggest "insider" there was.

* * *

But this place, even when it was full of people, had never cured her of her loneliness. If anything, it increased it. Even though she was surrounded by people she knew that all of them were only here for their own personal gain, not because they liked her.

Well there were a few exceptions. Several girls in her faction had joined because they had fallen for Shokuhou's charm and attractiveness, but that was different. There was also Hayami, the teal haired first year sitting in the corner, apparently studying but actually (as a short dip into her mind revealed) drawing pictures of kittens in her notebook. Hayami was way too much of an airhead to use someone else in any manner.

Unfortunately, she was also way too much of an airhead to provide the sort of company that the Queen desired, leaving her as lonely as ever.

'As lonely as ever,' Shokuhou repeated in her head. 'Was it always this lonely?' Her eyes closed as she tried to recall.

It probably had been. She had always been distanced from other people by her power and status. She had just acclimated to it.

That was until Kuroko came and pulled her out. Every friend the blond had right now could be traced back to the teleporter. The fact that she was no longer alone in that big dorm room was because of Kuroko, and now it was all falling apart without her.

Were Shokuhou's newfound friendships really this fragile? Could she really be plunged back into loneliness this easily? Were a few days of absence all it took? And what would happen if...

"The doctors say that living until 16 would be highly unlikely and living until 18 would be a miracle..." Words from the memory floated through her brain and she grabbed a remote from her bag, pressing a button to freeze all 5 of the other girls in place. She had a reputation to maintain and breaking her facade like this wasn't something she wanted any members of her faction to see.

Shokuhou's face fell into her hands and she sighed. Ever since she and the others had met Kuroko's family and learned about her condition it hadn't really come up, not in conversation at least, it was far too depressing for conversation, but that didn't mean they didn't all think about it often. The idea that their friend could one day just slip away from them... it was not something that was easy to forget.

If five days of Kuroko not being around was enough to make her like this... what would her death be like? Would it be better to end this before that happened? Was it better to love and lose than to not love at all?

It wasn't a question that had an easy answer. The only way to see if it was worth it would be to experience it herself.

Still, as Shokuhou glanced at the remote she held in her hand, she wished that her power could work on herself. It would be better to forget this whole thing about Kuroko's less than sunny future. Or perhaps if she could just inject some happiness into herself to combat this loneliness. Or perhaps she could take the route she had with Kuroko and simply turn off all the negative emotions.

Then her time with Misaka on "Judgment" duty flashed past her mind and she knew that the easy way out wasn't always the best. Perhaps the happiness was worth the possible pain.

* * *

Shokuhou certainly hoped that was the case as she collected herself and unfroze everyone in the room. They went back to their usual business as if nothing had happened.

The Queen looked to Henrietta. "Well if the noise is the only problem then I can fix that." She waved her remote. "I can turn down the sensitivity of your hearing and reverse it tonight."

Henrietta looked at her with surprise and amazement. "You'd do that for me?"

Shokuhou was slightly miffed at the surprise. It implied that she was some selfish person who never did anything for someone else, not without a catch at least. And as true as that normally was Shokuhou certainly did not see herself as being like that. "Of course. Just say please and thank you. What kind of Queen doesn't look after her subjects after all?"

"Shall I finish your homework beforehand?" The foreigner asked, though the answer was quite obviously yes.

Thus her surprise doubled when her queen said, "that won't be necessary. I can do it once in a while."

Henrietta was tempted to check the blond for a fever but decided it wasn't wise to look a gift horse in the mouth and quickly took her up on the offer.

Shokuhou then glanced at Hachiko, the third year who functioned as the faction's secretary, doing all the paperwork that their Queen was too lazy to do herself. She looked very much like a secretary as well, with black hair pulled up in a tight bun and thin-rimmed glasses resting on her nose. The image was furthered along by the very secretary-like blouse, skirt, and shoes that Shokuhou made her change into each time she came to a faction meeting.

Shokuhou dismissed her as well to go study and instead did the paperwork herself in addition to her school work. The monotony of the chores was enough to get her through the next two days. Then the tests served as a fitting distraction for the next six days.

* * *

Kuroko continued studying as fervently as she had before during that time so contact continued to be scarce... at least, until after that final test.

Unlike the previous 12 days the teleporter went to both of the level five's classrooms to pick them up. When Shokuhou saw this she was pleased, as it suggested that this lonely hell of Kuroko's absence was behind them.

However, she noticed something was odd almost as soon as they left school grounds. Unlike usual, Kuroko didn't link hands/arms with her girlfriends. Instead she trailed just slightly behind them. And with the deserted route they usually went along there weren't many distracting signals coming from others so Shokuhou could feel the stress and frustration emenating from Kuroko like embers from a flame.

Misaka could also feel the tension in every muscle of Kuroko's body. "Are you ok?" she asked, stopping and turning around to give her girlfriend a concerned look.

"I'm fine," the teleporter assured the two, waving them forward. "Just eager to get back home."

"Home? We aren't going to hang out with any of the others?" Shokuhou asked, having missed them almost as much as her girlfriend.

"They're still in school. Their finals aren't until next week. I'm tired from the tests. I'd like to just go home." Kuroko said to them. The level fives looked at each other but shrugged and continued to the Dorms.

When the finally got home the older pair set down their stuff. Shokuhou thought a little TV might help them all relax whereas Misaka felt like taking a nap after all that brain flexing she had had to do over the past week.

However, their plans didn't have nearly enough time to realize as the heard the door shut behind them a little harder than usual. They turned to look in time to see Kuroko locking the door.

The teleporter's smile was wide. She had actually managed to resist for the whole 12 days of studying and tests. She thought she might burst, actually physically burst, from the difficulty of holding back on the way home. She couldn't even touch them for fear of breaking down and doing something right in the middle of the street.

But now that they were in their room... well it was time for the real fun to begin.

* * *

...

* * *

"What in the world is this girl made of?" Misaka asked, out of breath as she stared at the slightly charred, unconscious body of the teleporter, "How does it take two level fives two minutes to disable one person?"

"Maybe because you didn't seem too eager to stop her," Shokuhou teased, casually readjusting her bra beneath her blouse. "I thought you had finally stopped being so uptight and were ready to have a bit of fun with us."

Misaka blushed as her eyes darted around, trying to find her blazer and shorts, which had been teleported off of her person, along with the blazers of the other two, quite early on in the... act. "Don't you pretend you're all fine and happy with it," the electro master retorted, "You started resisting before I did."

The blond's grin faltered and she fell silent for several seconds. Failing to find her clothes with a cursory scan and a bit concerned about the sudden quiet, Misaka turned around to look at the telepath.

"I suppose I did," Shokuhou finally said as she leaned back against the wall, pulling the unconscious Kuroko towards her and hugging the teleporter to her ample bosom, "I did... I should have. I should do it more often... say no to her. But..."

There was a pause as the blond looked downwards "I'm... scared to. I'm terrified of rejecting her. No matter how many times she says 'I love you', no matter how many times she kisses me, no matter how fantastic her displays of affection, I can't help but feel I'll always be second place in her heart. I'll always be the one she came to because her 'Onee-sama' rejected her. I feel like, if I don't try harder than you then one day she might decide that I'm not worth it, that I'm not even good enough for second place. So I always try to be the first to kiss her, I always try to return her affections, I always try to be a good girlfriend. I always try to appease her and make her happy, not just because I love her and want that for her, but because I don't want to be second place. I want to be the most important thing to her, so she won't ever have reason or desire to leave me."

Misaka looked stunned at the sudden display of vulnerability from the person who she had so

rarely seen open herself up like. She was even more stunned at the content of this sudden confession.

She wasn't sure exactly what it was that made her sit next to the blond and wrap an arm around her shoulders, or what made her tenderly wipe away the telepath's tears with a thumb. Perhaps it was friendly worry or maybe even the tiniest sliver of a lover's concern. She knew she should say something, but even the electro master herself was surprised at what came out of her mouth.

"I'm scared of it too... I'm scared of rejecting her. I know... I remember how much it hurt her and how much it hurt myself when she left because of my constant rejections. These past twelve days, they reminded me just how lonely and miserable I was without her and how scared I was when I had thought that my rejections had cost me the person I cared about most. I still don't really believe I deserve the second chance she gave me and I constantly worry that she'll suddenly change her mind. If I can't even do the things that you seem to be able to do with her so easily, like kissing, and cuddling, then perhaps she'll decide that I'm not worth that second chance after all."

Misaka took a deep breath. "But I just can't do the things you do as easily as you seem to. Because, as afraid as I am of rejecting her, I'm even more terrified of accepting her. It's not normal what we have. Society..." Misaka sighed and shook her head, "no... that's not it. It's a convenient excuse and it does bother me, but it doesn't scare me. What really scares me is the idea of having someone so close to me. I'm not sure if it is the nature of my power or just my personal nature, but people around me tend to get hurt. I have problems with controlling my ability, problems with knowing how much is enough and when it's too much. Sometimes it's not even me, sometimes it's just because they're my friend. The closer they get the more liable they are to get hurt, and Kuroko is getting closer than anyone else I've ever known, and she's so persistent nothing I do can convince her I'm dangerous. Even if I hurt her or go too far she'll just cover it up with a smile and pretend nothing happened. I just..." Misaka trailed off.

Shokuhou looked at the electro master and giggled cutely before leaning over to kiss away the tears that Misaka had not even known she had shed. "I know what you mean Misaka-san... to be honest I'm scared of it too... scared of accepting her. But it's not because of my ability, I trust the control I have over that. What I'm afraid of is the love itself. The brain is my playground so I can manipulate love more expertly than cupid if I wanted to. I could make a random stranger on the street suddenly love me so much he'd be willing to take a bullet for me, or I could make our gym teacher fall in love with a squirrel. Before Kuroko that was all love ever was to me, just another set of chemicals in the brain which people lent way too much significance. The only time I ever loved someone I lost them, and aside from that I don't think anyone else ever truly loved me beyond attraction to my appearance or fawning admiration... not even my parents really love me."

There was a short pause as the blond looked off into the distance. "Now though... now I have two people who I love so much, and someone who loves me, and I have no idea what to do about it. I keep worrying I'll do something wrong. When it's just kissing and cuddling and going on dates I know what to expect and I know what to do... I know I can't mess up too badly. But when it's more adult things like..." Shokuhou traced a finger over the hickey that now adorned her neck, "like what she wants to do then I just find myself getting scared that I'll do something that she dislikes, or even something that hurts her. I know more about the human mind than anyone else in the entire world but if anything that just makes me even more hesitant. I know just how big a difference there is between theory and practice. I don't want to sacrifice this feeling of love but everything about it scares me."

Misaka found herself chuckling, "We're level fives you know... We are one person armies. If we wanted to we could level cities and probably easily conquer the weaker countries, and yet we're scared of something like this?"

Shokuhou joined in on the chuckling with her own amused giggle, "But in the end, we're still humans. And as humans it's ok to be afraid every once in a while. And sometimes Misaka-san," the blond grinned and put her finger on the tip of the electro master's nose, "Sometimes it's even ok to talk to others about those fears and work past them together." The Queen nuzzled into the space between Misaka's neck and shoulder, "When she wakes up let's talk with her and maybe lay a few of these fears of ours to rest."

Misaka nodded, laying her cheek on Shokuhou's head and putting her free hand on Kuroko's lap, feeling more connected to the two of them than ever before.


	6. Of Dates and Disputes

The soft hum of the switched off television and the gentle breathing of the room's three occupants were the only sounds that could be heard in Tokiwadai's Interior Dormitories Room 313. It was, after all, too late in the year for the buzz of cicadas and too deep in the Gardens of Education for the deep rumble of engines that plagued the rest of the city at all hours of the day.

Normally, the silence of the room unnerved Kuroko. She was a city girl, born and raised, and the sounds of the city had always been a comfort to her. But today she was grateful for the silence as it helped to focus her mind on the thoughts that were currently buzzing around in her head.

As was usually the case when she was not embroiled in a case for Judgment or working on a particularly difficult school assignment, her thoughts revolved around the two people who were lying on either side of her, sleeping peacefully.

She glanced over towards one of her girlfriends, the blond haired telepath Shokuhou Misaki. There was a smile on her face, one of the cute, genuine smiles that Kuroko loved to see. The level five had once claimed she could control what she dreamed about. Kuroko wondered what dream she had chosen that had made her so happy.

Gloved hands roamed low as usual, her arm draping across Kuroko's stomach and her hand wrapped around the teleporter's hip. Kuroko had never actually seen Shokuhou's hands or legs as the blond insisted on wearing the gloves and stockings to bed and changed them in the morning in the bathroom after her shower, an event Kuroko was sad to say she had never witnessed.

She took a moment to soak in every detail of the face before her, every inch of pale skin that glowed with the radiance of the sun despite the low light of the mostly dark dorm and every strand of wild, sleep-tousled blond hair.

When she had the image ingrained in her memory, she glanced to her right to see one of the only sights in the world that could rival the beauty of Shokuhou's sleeping face; the sleeping face of her other girlfriend, the chestnut haired electro master Misaka Mikoto.

Lit by the few spears of moonlight that seeped through the window, Kuroko could clearly see the peaceful expression that adorned her face. A similar calmness could also be seen in the electro master's sleeping posture.

When anxious, Misaka slept on her side and tended to curl into and tightly hug the nearest soft thing, which, to Kuroko's joy, had been the teleporter the past few weeks. When she was calm, she usually rested on her back with her arms at her side, with only her head turned towards Kuroko.

The lack of contact somewhat bothered the teleporter. However, the meaning of it, namely that her Onee-sama was at peace for the first time in weeks, was worth the slight discomfort that the lack of contact brought.

Kuroko knew exactly what had brought on this sense of peace and calm within Misaka. After all, it was the same thing that had kept Kuroko awake; the talk that the trio had had shortly before turning in for the evening, after Kuroko's attempted make-up make-outs and the ensuing punishment.

Onee-sama and Shokuhou-senpai had voiced their insecurities, their unease at Kuroko's sometimes overwhelming advances, and their wish to slow things down. Her thoughts drifted to the words that were said during the conversation.

"Maybe it would be better to just be... just be friends again..." Onee-sama had stated. However, the resolve that had held steady throughout the conversation gave way to a hint of doubt at the end of the sentence.

Shokuhou-senpai nodded in agreement, though Kuroko could sense the other girls apprehension. The fact that Shokuhou-senpai couldn't meet her gaze told Kuroko everything she needed to know. Neither of them really wanted to give this up considering how hard they had fought to get it, but it seemed... safer. There wasn't as much pressure with friendship nor was there as much at stake. It really was for everyone's good, especially Kuroko's.

The teleporter had disagreed with that theory however. "I don't think that would be the best solution," Kuroko had responded far more calmly than she or the other two thought she would be upon hearing this. "You two said that the lack of contact from the last twelve days made you as uncomfortable as my... "overeager" affection made you. If we went back to being friends, none of us would be happy. If you two are unhappy with what we have now then we can slow things down, step back a bit, but we don't need to go so far as 'just friends'."

This concept was met with obvious, but hesitant, interest. "So what do you propose?" Shokuhou-senpai had asked.

"No matter how hard we try we aren't going to get three beds in here, so sleeping together is a necessity," Kuroko had said and was quiet for a second as she organized her thoughts, "Over the past twelve days the thing I've missed most is the good morning and good night kisses. So I would like those to stay, but if there's anything else that makes you especially uncomfortable I can make an effort from now on to avoid doing it." Compromise was the basis of all healthy relationships after all.

Kuroko had achieved these relationships through taking the easy way out, running from the consequences of her actions and her feelings and then making a stupid ultimatum that had hurt the person she loved and had probably caused these insecurities in the first place. She did not intend to do so anymore. She would face these problems and work through them together with her girlfriends.

Shokuhou considered this, resting her chin on her finger as she stared off cutely into space. "Well... I'm actually ok with most of what you do. The groping I could live without, though I do understand why you would want to touch my magnificent chest as much as you do. What I'm more uncomfortable with is the pressure of your expectations. Like how you ask us to shower together or always seem to want sex. That level of intimacy just isn't healthy for people our age."

"But isn't that what people who love each other do? That's why it's called 'making love'." Kuroko asked. To be honest, she was sort of afraid of sex herself, but she saw it as the culmination of love and affection, which was why she was so eager to do it with the people who she loved.

Shokuhou patted her head, "Eventually, but not while we're still so young."

"Fair enough I suppose. I'll stop asking about it until we're older," Kuroko had nodded, figuring that was extremely reasonable. Then she had turned to Misaka, the blush she had had since the beginning of the conversation getting deeper as she thought about what she wanted.

"I... I just... I don't like..."

"Doing anything in public, right?" Kuroko finished the electro master's sentence, "I can try harder to hold back in public, but I would like to hold hands on the way to school and Judgment still. I worked hard to find a route with as few people as possible to make you more comfortable."

"So basically nothing changes..." Misaka said after considering this for a while.

"None of the little daily things but admittedly that's what I like the most, and what you two seem to like the most as well... or am I completely misreading that? Do you actually hate it?" Kuroko wondered. She had thought she knew the two well enough to be able to tell if they liked something or not, but maybe she was wrong, maybe she only saw what she wanted to see. She didn't think that was it, but it was better to ask and be wrong than to force her girlfriends into something they didn't like doing.

"Not at all," Shokuhou had replied immediately. Onee-sama's answer was a little more delayed but she too said, "Not exactly..."

"So, I'll stop the groping and public displays of affection and I won't pressure you about sex. But we'll still be girlfriends and we'll still do all the little things," Kuroko had said, feeling that it was a fair compromise that would make everyone happy.

To be honest, Kuroko was quite relieved they had had that talk. Not only did it mean that Onee-sama and Shokuhou-senpai were being open and honest about their problems rather than keeping them in and letting them fester but she was also happy with the compromise that they had reached.

She preferred it like this. These daily, gentle affections. She had panicked a little when they had proposed being just friends, but when she thought about it, she realized that some of the best times she had ever had with the two had been back when they were friends. It wasn't enough to make her want to break up with them, but it had been enough to keep her calm enough to negotiate properly.

Now that they had reached their compromise, Kuroko thought about it once again. Just because they were more than friends didn't mean they couldn't hang out like friends. They did it all the time with Saten and Uiharu.

'But if we were alone, then it wouldn't be hanging out would it? It would be a date?' Kuroko thought to herself, smiling widely. Dates were the best of both worlds; something that you only did with people you were dating, but pretty much the exact same as hanging out with friends.

The three of them had gone out a few times, but never on a proper date. There was too much to do, with Judgment and school and everything. But school was over, and tomorrow she had a day off.

Instantly her mind filled with the possibilities. What could they do? Where should they go? Images flowed past Kuroko's eyes as her smiled widened at all of them. A strategy was starting to form in her head. Even as sleep claimed the tired teleporter, her mind raced to plan the perfect date.

"Where exactly are we going?" Misaka asked Kuroko as they boarded the train.

"District 6." Kuroko informed her, pointing at the sign that stated the destination of the train they had boarded.

"So you've been saying all morning. What's so special about District 6?" Misaka asked as the trio sat down.

"You'll find out when we get there. For now, please just trust me." Kuroko informed her girlfriend with a smile. "I promise this will be the best date you've ever been on."

"Of course it will be. It doesn't exactly have stiff competition." Shokuhou smirked. "Best of one isn't that big an achievement."

"Oh, sure, like you've gone on lots before." Misaka rolled her eyes.

"Of course I have. At least seven." Shokuhou informed her proudly.

"What?! When? With whom?" Kuroko screeched. The concept of Shokuhou-senpai going out with another person was horrific. It made Kuroko angry even considering the possibility.

Shokuhou giggled and tapped the teleporter's nose with a gloved finger. "With you silly."

Kuroko looked confused for a second, then she seemed to realize what the blond meant. "Oh... you counted those as dates."

"Hmmm? Are you saying you didn't? You're breaking my heart!" Shokuhou declared melodramatically, attracting quite a few stares from the other occupants of the train car.

Kuroko was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If she said that she considered them dates then Shokuhou would be satisfied, but Misaka would probably see it as cheating. If she denied they were dates then Misaka would be happy, but Shokuhou would be sad. What was she supposed to do?

"Wait a second... I know what's in District 6." Misaka suddenly said, "It's a..." She began before Kuroko clamped her hand over her mouth.

"Please don't spoil the surprise if you know," the teleporter asked her, internally relieved that Misaka had inadvertently changed the subject before she was forced to come up with an answer that would satisfy both of her girlfriends.

The electromaster rolled her eyes but nodded. The telepath giggled. "You know, I could just peek into your head and figure it out in a second. But that would be cheating wouldn't it?"

"Yes it would be. Thank you for respecting my privacy." The auburn-haired girl smiled as the train sped towards its destination.

As it moved, Kuroko decided to start another conversation so the trio didn't fall into the pit of awkward silence. "You know, Onee-sama, I hear that the technology of these maglev lines is actually based on the study of your ability."

"Really?"

"Mhm. That's what my uncle told me. He's a researcher who specializes in finding practical applications of ESPer abilities. The level fives are goldmines of information and a good portion of this city's recent technology is due to the study of them, to both of you. Even though you might not know about it the two of you have probably saved or improved hundreds, even thousands of lives. Someday you might even help to improve the whole world." Kuroko stated, watching as the two level five's faces lit up at this thought.

"So, if this train is because of Misaka-san, what kind of things have I contributed?" The Queen asked. Though she was already aware of many breakthroughs that she had contributed, she wouldn't pass up the chance to hear about them again.

Kuroko passed the rest of the train ride by telling her girlfriends about the various scientific breakthroughs that had been achieved because of them. Each time their faces lit up brighter as they heard about all the people who they helped.

It was enough of a distraction that they had managed to reach their final destination before Kuroko ran out of things to say (Her girlfriends were her favorite topic after all, and she had done immense amounts of research into them).

"Here we are!" She declared as they reached the front gate.

The pair looked at the place they had arrived at. "An amusement park?" Asked the Queen.

"Indeed. I use to come here every year with my family when I was younger," Kuroko informed her.

"I've been here once with my parents too, though that was a while ago," Misaka stated.

Shokuhou-senpai frowne, but did not respond. All of this talk about family was making her feel more than a little uneasy.

Before she had time to dwell on the feeling, Kuroko grabbed both of their hands in her own and smiled. "And now I get to come with other people who are important to me."

Both Misaka and Shokuhou blushed and looked away at that, but they couldn't help a smile from crossing their faces at the teleporter's words as Kuroko lead them inside and paid for their tickets.

"So, what should we do first?" Kuroko asked the pair.

"Let's go on the rides!" exclaimed Misaka happily.

"Let's get something to eat!" said Shokuhou simultaneously.

Kuroko looked at them. "Well how about we flip for it?" She proposed, taking a coin out of her pocket. "Heads we go on the rides, tails we go get something to eat." She flipped the coin into the air and caught it in her palm. She glanced down at it. "Heads. Rollercoasters it is."

Shokuhou pouted but she could hardly complain of bias with a coin flip, so she went along with them.

As they walked through the park they noticed that it was quite empty, with only small groups of people walking around amongst the towering metal structures of the roller coasters. Of course, it made sense for it to be that way. Not only was it winter, not a very popular time for an amusement park to begin with, but not all the schools had gotten off for winter vacation yet.

Tokiwadai released a week earlier than most schools so most students wouldn't be off for another six days or so.

As it turned out, Doing the rides first proved to be the best decision, since Shokuhou proved surprisingly queasy and only the fact that she had an empty stomach prevented her from puking all over her front as the ride got faster and twistier. When it was over she immediately needed to sit down.

"I don't think that rollercoaster agreed with me..." Shokuhou moaned, holding her head.

"I'm so sorry, Shokuhou-senpai... I didn't know you'd react like that."

"So does this mean we can't go on any more rollercoaster?" Misaka asked, the disappointment in her voice was palpable.

"It doesn't mean that exactly... but we should probably stick to the tamer ones," Kuroko tried to strike up a compromise.

"No more loop-de-loops," Shokuhou-senpai begged, moaning again.

"For now, while we wait for Shokuhou-senpai to recover, why don't we check out the game booths?" Kuroko offered. The game booths were her favorite thing at this amusement park. She had mastered several of them and was determined to show off her skills to her girlfriends.

"Aren't those things rigged?" Misaka questioned, remembering the last time she had been here and all the money she had wasted trying to get one of the prizes.

"Some of them are... but rigged and impossible are two different things. All of them have to be possible or nobody would play," Kuroko lectured her as she held a hand out to Shokuhou-senpai, pulling her gently off the bench and helping her walk towards the rows upon rows of game booths, Misaka trailing along on their heels.

After the world had stopped spinning and her stomach had calmed down somewhat, The Queen looked around at the place they had walked to. As she gazed around her jaw dropped slightly in amazement. "These are all game booths?" Shokuhou asked in awe.

"Yeah... umm, it's an interesting story. Oba-san told me my first time here." Kuroko began as she continued walking through the rows upon rows of booths. "This park was built twenty-five years ago by Aruko Defiru who was the Minister of Education back on the first Board of Directors back when they had set positions between them. Aruko believed that children learned best when they were engaged with what they were learning so he built this place in order to capture people's attentions and make them want to learn. Most of these booths are designed to be used by people with a certain class of power to train their ability in a fun way."

"Oh, like the arcades?" Misaka asked. She was a regular visitor to the arcades and many of the booths had seemed quite familiar to her. Now she realized that she had seen many of them before, though in different forms, during her many trips there.

"Yeah, the arcades were set up by the same person. This was something like a prototype for those," Kuroko confirmed the electro master's suspicions.

"That actually sounds interesting. Do they have any booths for telepaths?" Shokuhou asked.

"They do, but they aren't working yet. Booths like that take a human to man them. This place has a busy season when everything is up and running, but during the rest of the year most of it is automated, with only the highest earning manual booths having people to run them. The electromaster booth is automated, but we can go there later," Kuroko said.

"So, what? We're heading to the teleporter booth first or something?" Misaka asked, a little annoyed at the prospect of just watching Kuroko play a game while they stood there bored out of their minds.

"No. Teleportation is such a rare power that it doesn't really warrant a booth of its own. We're heading there," She said, pointing to a tall metal pole some 100 yards ahead of them with what appeared to be a satellite dish embedded on top. In the distance three other such poles were also visible, forming a rectangle. "Much like with the arcades the power booths have a ticket system where you can swap in tickets for prizes, but there's also booths for people without powers. Those dishes are there to monitor use of ESPer powers to ensure nobody uses theirs to cheat. These are your more standard fairground game booths with the big stuffed animals and things like that as prizes."

"Stuffed animals?" Misaka asked, trying to sound nonchalant despite the excitement that those two simple words summoned up within her.

Shokuhou giggled. "Such eagerness Misaka-san," the blond teased. "Surely you have enough stuffed animals already. Normally you aren't one to encourage her childish hobbies Kuroko-chan."

"Shut up" the electro master barked in response, a blush coloring her cheeks at being caught out in her eagerness as well as being called childish.

"Normally I'd agree with you Shokuhou-senpai. But this one will be special, because this one will be a gift from me. A hard won prize to serve as a memory of this wonderful date and a symbol of my neverending love for the two of you." Kuroko declared, spinning on her heel to hug the two of them.

Both of them blushed and pushed Kuroko away out of embarrassment. Shokuhou was, as usual, the first to recover enough to grin and purr. "You really are a walking romantic cliche, aren't you?" She could picture that exact line and situation in one of her cheesy soap operas.

"So embarrassing..." Misaka huffed in partial agreement as she looked around to see if anyone had seen that.

"I'm just honest with my feelings." Kuroko defended as she gestured around. "Take a look at the prizes and tell me if there are any you like."

Misaka was about to say something else when a toy displayed at a nearby booth caught her eye. Shokuhou caught the gaze and grinned. "Looks like we have a winner. Misaka-san is practically drooling for the stuffed Gekota over there. Such a child."

"Wha- I am not—" The electro master began, automatically defending herself, but she was interrupted by Kuroko as the teleporter stepped up to the booth, pointed to the plushie indicated by the Queen, and asked the person manning the stall "what do I need to do to win that one?"

The stall was one of the ones where you were given a spring loaded gun with a cork in the end and told to stand behind the line while you aimed at a pyramid of overturned plastic cups. The woman manning the stall, a teen who seemed to be about fifteen years old and looked as if she hated working here more than words could describe, glanced at the plush toy and said, "300 gets you three shots. It takes three stacks in three shots for the XL prizes," she rattled off, annoyed that her long awaited winter break would be spent doing this for a month in the freezing cold and allowing her irritation to seep through in her voice.

Kuroko ignored the person's foul mood and slid the coins across the counter of the stall before taking up the cork gun, aiming at the targets, and firing.

The first shot missed altogether. The second hit the top cup off the middle stack. The third one knocked the entire right stack down. "One stack, nice job." The woman rolled her eyes, "Choose anything from the middle shelf."

Misaka frowned slightly in disappointment but stepped forward and pointed to one of the smaller prizes. Kuroko frowned deeper, irritated at her own failure. She began searching her purse for more money. Misaka saw her doing this and put her hand on her arm. "Don't worry Kuroko, it's fine. This is good enough." She smiled as she wiggled the little plush doll in her hand.

Kuroko shook her head. "I told you I'd get you that one and I'll get you that one," she stated firmly as she drew out the coin and handed it to the stall worker.

After two more tries, one of which earned her another medium and the other of which earned her a large (won for knocking down two stacks in three hits), Misaka asked if she should have a go instead. Kuroko furiously shook her head, stating, "It's meaningless if I don't win it for you Onee-sama. Just give me a few more tries."

Misaka sighed and gave up, knowing just how bad a loser Kuroko was and how stubborn she could be. She'd drain her whole wallet and then go get more money before she'd admit defeat. Shokuhou giggled when Misaka said this to her, remarking that the electro master was the same way.

"And you aren't?" Misaka scoffed.

"Of course not," The Queen stated, placing her hand upon her chest and giving the other level five a condescending smile. "To be a sore loser you must lose. Since I'm a natural born winner I can't be a sore loser."

"If you're a natural born winner how about you give it a shot. Might have more luck than your friend here," the stall worker stated.

"I said it's meaningless if I'm not the one to win it." Kuroko repeated.

"That's fine, I'll give it a shot and win my own present for Misaka-san," Shokuhou stated as she got out her purse, gave the woman the money, and took the other cork gun. She lined up her shot, aimed, pulled the trigger and...

"Off by a mile." The stall worker chuckled.

Shokuhou frowned, tempted to aim the next one between the girl's eyes when Kuroko stepped over to her. "No Shokuhou-senpai, your stance is all wrong," she began, taking hold of the telepath's body and easing it into the proper stance, revelling in the intimate contact without trying to seem as if she was enjoying it.

The Queen allowed herself to be directed, enjoying the contact as well and not bothering to conceal the fact, winking and smirking at Misaka as if to gloat. Then she took the shots.

For the first time the stall worker smiled as she took something out of one of the bins on the top shelf and handed it to the blond. "Here you go, you natural born winner. The small prize for knocking over 2 cups with three shots." Her voice was dripping with condescension. The blond frowned at the tone as she looked at the thing she had been given.

"Oh... Actually this isn't bad," she remarked, the frown turning into a smile as she turned around and stepped up to Misaka, brandishing a little Gekota pin. She undid the cover on the pin and grinned at the electro master. "Hold still, with such a tiny chest as my target it won't be easy to hit."

Misaka frowned and snatched the pin away from the telepath using magnetism. "If your accuracy at that game is anything to go by I don't think you could hit it even if they were udders like yours."

She snarked right back as she attached it herself, not trusting the blond with such a pointy thing so close to her skin.

'Your turn to fail next, shortstuff," the stall worker remarked to Kuroko as she replaced the cups and stood to the side, waiting for the teleporter's next shots.

Kuroko glared at the girl and fired her three shots. "Thunk, thunk, thunk." The three stacks were knocked down one after the other. "Nobody calls me short, and nobody insults my girlfriends." Kuroko said as she yanked the large plushie Gekota from its hook and handed it to Misaka before turning to leave.

The others followed, surprised at the sudden and somewhat anti-climactic finish to that particular incident. Kuroko sighed as she walked down the rows of other stalls. "Sorry that took so long, but I'm not very good at shooting games. I'm better at throwing games and things like that."

"It's fine, thank you very much for the toy Kuroko," Misaka acknowledged, grinning into the soft felt of the plushie as she hugged it tight, the others that Kuroko had won clutched in the other hand.

"Would have been a lot cheaper to just buy that plushie at a store," Shokuhou said, poking the animal and smiling at the softness.

"Money isn't an issue," Kuroko stated. She was plenty wealthy enough after all that it truly wasn't. "It's about the memories. Anyway, do you see anything you like Shokuhou-senpai?"

The blond glanced around for a while until her gaze was attracted to a particularly interesting looking stall. "What's that?" She asked, pointing at it.

"Oh, you have good taste. That's my favorite game here. You get these darts and you throw them at the dartboard and the score you get determines which prize. They have a different prize for every score, though most of the prizes under 100 points aren't very good," Kuroko informed the telepath.

"I see..." She glanced around at all of the prizes before pointing at the one for 168 points, a pretty looking silver plastic tiara with colored plastic jewels embedded in it. "How about that one? A fitting gift for a Queen isn't it?"

Kuroko once again held her tongue as she stepped up and gave the stall worker, a 16 year old male who actually appeared quite happy (how could he not be with that blond bombshell standing so close), the money for her first three darts.

The target score wasn't an easy one to achieve, but Kuroko had spent countless time and money on this game over the years and she was certain she could do it.

As it turned out she was correct, managing to get 168 points in her first try. She turned and smiled at the two level fives. "How do you like that?" she said, pride glowing in her voice. "That's my true strength."

"Amazing!" Shokuhou cooed, humoring the teleporter as she stepped forward. Kuroko got a swelled head quite easily when she accomplished something, so Shokuhou tried not to praise her too much, but it was cute seeing just how happy the teleporter became when she was complemented.

"Here you go," The man said handing Shokuhou the tiara from it's shelf. He smiled as he watched her put it on. "Wow, you look really cute in that. Hey what do you say later you and I- gak!" His offer was interrupted by Kuroko's hand closing around his throat as the auburn haired girl glared at him with intense hatred.

"Don't hit on my girlfriends..." She seethed through gritted teeth before pushing him back, linking hands with Shokuhou-senpai and Onee-sama, and heading off, deciding, after having her girlfriends be insulted in one booth and hit on in another, that they should probably head back to the rides.

The blond giggled at the teleporter's possessiveness while the electro master simply sighed. However both followed along.

As they walked the same argument from the beginning began to arise. Rides versus food.

Once again it was up to Kuroko to come up with a compromise. "Well it's probably good to take advantage of this place's emptiness and ride a few of the bigger and better rides. The three biggest should take about twenty minutes, so we'll do that then we can get food. Shokuhou-senpai, there are rides near the bigger ones that aren't so hard on the stomach. You can ride those while Onee-sama and I ride the big ones. I'll even ride one with you instead of the big one. Okay?"

"But food right afterwards," the blond demanded.

"Of course," Kuroko nodded.

"Sounds good," Misaka agreed. She was hungry too, but she wanted to ride the rides before eating, just in case.

After that, just as promised, the three got some standard fairground food and sat on a nearby bench to enjoy it. Misaka was currently munching away on a corndog, while Shokuhou snacked on a pile of funnel cakes. Kuroko had ice cream but her main souce of food was taking bites of the other's as an indirect kiss (something Misaka allowed because of her good mood). When she was taking a bite of the funnel cake Kuroko obviously tried very hard not to get herself messy despite the inherent messiness of the treat as the Queen seemed to do the same thing effortlessly.

It wasn't long before Misaka got restless. "These are finger food so what do you say we go do something while we eat."

Kuroko considered for a second. "Well we can't go on any rides... so how about the Haunted House or the House of Mirrors?"

"House of Mirrors," Shokuhou said.

"Haunted House," Misaka said simultaneously.

The two glared at each other. "It's still my turn so we should go to what I want," Shokuhou reasoned.

"What are you scared of the Haunted House?" Misaka taunted.

"Are you afraid of the House of Mirrors? I can see why you would be," Shokuhou retorted, shooting a meaningful look at the electro master's face.

"We'll go to the House of Mirrors. It is Shokuhou-senpai's time after all. Sorry Onee-sama," Kuroko settled before more insults were thrown about and the mood got worse.

Misaka huffed as Shokuhou pressed a short kiss to Kuroko's cheek. Then the three stood up and went to the nearby House of Mirrors. Outside of it was a funhouse mirror that was bent in such a way as to balloon the chest and hips to comical proportions.

Shokuhou was eager to push Misaka in front of it and giggle as she saw the change. "Well now, isn't that a sexy look. Now if only you weren't so tiny in real life..."

"Better than having those udders you carry around. The're so big they're stretching past the mirror," Misaka responded with a grin.

Kuroko meanwhile was exercising every bit of restraint she had in order to not grope the two despite their discussion on breasts. "It doesn't really matter," she said as she walked over, "both of you are perfect."

"How can two things which are so far apart on the same scale both be perfect?" Shokuhou asked with a grin, wondering how Kuroko would talk her way out of this one.

However when it came to her girlfriends breasts Kuroko had plenty of words to say. "The size doesn't matter, it depends on who it's on. Large breasts suit Shokuhou-senpai and Konori senpai, Medium sized breasts suit Onee-sama and Saten-san."

"And tiny breasts suit you and Uiharu," Shokuhou finished as she pulled Kuroko in front of the mirror. "As I thought... no difference. Guess the mirror doesn't have enough to work with," the blond playfully teased.

"I'm still growing," Kuroko reminded her, sounding only a little perturbed by the teasing. As she walked over to the entrance of the House of Mirrors.

Misaka sighed. "Except for occasional worries about her weight she's far too confident with her own body to bother teasing her about it," she informed the other girl.

"Maybe you should learn from her. You have a wonderful body and you should learn to enjoy it. A little confidence is never a bad thing," Shokuhou stated as she headed over to join Kuroko at the entrance.

"Misaka blushed at the compliment. "Shut up," she quickly, and very intelligently, retorted as she joined the others.

Beyond the entrance were more funhouse mirrors that contorted the body into all kinds of shapes. The trio had a surprising amount of fun with those.

Unfortunately the maze of mirrors served to turn the enjoyment into frustration for Shokuhou whose ability did not grant her a built in radar like Misaka's nor the maneuvering and navigational skills that Kuroko had needed to sharpen to superhuman levels to use her ability to its full potential.

After Misaka had gotten a bit of her own back on the teasing front with that one, Kuroko had decided to lead her through by the hand.

Once that was over they saw it was getting late. "We should probably get going now," Misaka said as she tossed the trash from the food into the nearest trashcan.

"We still have a while left, and there's one more thing I want to do," Kuroko said as she pointed to the ferris wheel.

"Aha, a date classic, the ferris wheel. The beautiful view, the relaxing pace, and the cramped cabins," Shokuhou rattled off with a smile. "Good choice."

"It's about sunset so the view should be especially nice," Misaka considered it for a second. "Okay. Let's go."

Kuroko grinned as her plan came together perfectly. Nothing could stop her now.

"I'm sorry, only two per cabin." The attendant told Misaka after she tried to go through along with Shokuhou and Kuroko.

"What? Why?" Misaka demanded.

"Safety. You can just get on the next one," He said.

Kuroko frowned. There was no point if there wasn't all of them together. She stepped back and said, "You go ahead with Shokuhou-senpai, I'll get on the next one Onee-sama." The man shrugged at this and stepped aside to let Misaka through.

Misaka frowned and looked at Kuroko, about to express her distaste about the idea of riding along with Shokuhou, when a wink from the teleporter stopped her. She figured out the obvious solution that Kuroko had come up with and nodded. She got onto the cabin, sitting opposite of Shokuhou.

"Well have you enjoyed this little date?" The blond asked her.

"No thanks to you," Misaka retorted, but it was quite lighthearted.

She felt as the ferris wheel lurched forward to allow Kuroko onto the next cabin. After that the ride began and within a few seconds Kuroko appeared between the two level fives.

"Are you sure you should be doing this Kuroko, aren't you normally a stickler for the rules?" Misaka stated.

"All is fair in love and war," Kuroko stated. "Love is more important than the rules. Or at least, more important than stupid rules like that one." She huffed as she leaned against the side and looked out the window.

"This was nice wasn't it?" Kuroko said with a smile as the orange tinted horizon spread before her eyes.

"Yeah. I admit I was a little worried when you asked us on a date right after our talk yesterday, but this was really nice," Misaka smiled, looking at the sunset as well.

"It wasn't as good as some of the dates I planned but it was pretty decent," Shokuhou grinned, taking Kuroko's hand in her own and leaning forward to kiss her.

Kuroko returned the kiss before pulling away and kissing Misaka. Unfortunately Misaka was too embarrassed and moved away from Kuroko with a deep blush. Kuroko frowned for a moment but did not press on like she usually would. Instead she leaned back against the side with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. "See... isn't this so much better than being just friends again? After all, what we have is true love, and it's never good to give something like that up when you actually find it."

Shokuhou giggled. "You're such a romantic."

"More like an idiot," Misaka murmured, her face still burning red with embarrassment.

Kuroko sank to the floor with a chuckle. "Maybe... But what's the harm? I'm happy, and I hope you guys are too. And that's what love is, people making each other happy."

The three girls shared a look and smiled. They truly were happy together.


End file.
